for I have not the capacity to determine it. It may depend upon the definition
given to “ chewing the cud,” which I take to mean a return of the food from the
first stomach to the mouth for remastication, which return does not take place
in the Hare. The result may be the same, though the process be different— a kind
of inverted method.’
We know that the Hispid Hare (Lepus hispidus) has not given up the
burrowing habits of the family, and the Common Hare still has some instinct for
burrowing, for it will half-burrow out a trench with its feet preparatory to lying
down. Moreover, a wounded or much frightened Hare will often go to ground
in a rabbit-burrow or old drain when pursued by man or dog. Nine-inch drainpipes
are often placed in the Essex Marshes so that when Hares are pursued by
lurchers they can take refuge.
On this point Mr. Drane, speaking of a tame Hare which he kept, says in
the previously mentioned paper:
* It likes to be with me, and delights to jump upon the bed, over and under,
and upon it again and again, and I have become so fond of it and accustomed
to it that it does not disturb me at all. It will almost every morning, when its
period of nocturnal activity ceases, get under the bedclothes to enjoy the warmth,
and then it will wake me by burrowing furiously; it tears away at imaginary
excavations, and throws out imaginary earth precisely as a rabbit does in its real
work, “ washing its hands with invisible soap in imperceptible water.”- In these
imaginary burrowings it meets with imaginary roots or other obstructions, which
it bites through. That in prosaic English means just so many holes in the
sheet, but the creature is so loveable that I would much rather have half a Hare
than a whole sheet. This burrowing seems to me an instinctive harking back to
that remote period in this creature’s evolution when it lived in holes, as its
congeners do.’ A similar evolution is now taking place in the case of the rabbit
in Australia, which is dispensing with burrows and making a nest in open grass.
Perhaps in time these young Australian colonists will be born well-furred and
able to see and run at once. Again, on the other hand, it may be said that
Hares have not given up burrowing because they never did burrow, whilst rabbits
may have acquired the habit.
Another interesting point noticed by Mr. Drane is that the Hare has a habit
of panting under conditions of enjoyment, and not as a result of fear or extreme
exertion. A dog pants to cool itself, but a Hare pants apparently to warm itself,
for its natural temperature, which is about 98°, rises in a few minutes to 106°.
Hares are bold swimmers and take readily to the water. I have seen Hares
cross the Tay on several occasions, and once watched one try to cross, at Eels
Brig stream, perhaps the swiftest part on the whole river. It showed some
discretion in entering the water at the head of the rapids, but being borne down
swiftly it lost heart and returned to the south bank about two hundred yards lower
down. It then cantered up to the head of the stream again and made another
unsuccessful effort, after which it went slowly up into the woods of Taymouth and
disappeared. I think Hares can swim considerable distances even across arms of
the sea. There are instances of Hares swimming from an island off the Cornish
coast to the mainland, a row of twenty minutes by boat, and recently a'iHare
had a nest on an island in Connemara Lake and swam over several times every
morning and evening to the land, which was at a considerable distance. The
Rev. E. Adrian Woodruffe-Peacock speaks of the freedom with which Hares
will take to the.water. He says1 : ‘ The (poaching) “ fraternity” know only too
well that they thread hedges, cross highways, swim wide rivers, and easily jump
smaller streams up to twenty-fiye feet in width. Nearly thirty years ago these facts
were brought forcibly home to me,by a field of carrots on the west side of the river
Trent. On that side of the river there were nos.Hares, but the east side was
strictly preserved, and they were in plenty. The carrots acted as a perfect lure
during an open winter, to attract the Hares across the stream, where the river
was a trifle over two hundred yards wide. They came over in the failing light,
and returned about dawn. . . . In tidal rivers like the Trent Hares show great
discretion, after a little practice, in “ taking off” according to the tide above or
below the landing spot, as the case may be.’ A Hare released by me in a lake
swam two hundred yards with apparent ease. Its motions in the water are similar
to those of the rabbit, nose and stern held high and shoulders deep.. It propels
itself principally by the hind legs, the hocks of which rise high above the water.
A rabbit runs down hill with ease, though it may prefer a flat surface, but a
Hare always runs up an incline if possible.2 I f forced down hill a Hare will
sometimes topple head over heels and seem quite out of its element. When
pursued on a hill face it prefers to run diagonally across it, and in such a position
can twist and turn with skill.' The position of the eyes is such that the Hare
oes not see well straight in front, consequently it often runs into things it would
1 The Cultivation o f the Common Hare (‘ Rural Studies ’ Series), p. r3. H R H H . miU‘ing ESS tradts' th= Hare «*"?» P"“ °™ “ >“5 f»»t in front of the other as it advances, whereas the
rabbit places the two nearly in the same transverse line.