South Vermont News

The phrase “mad as a March hare” first appeared in Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” and is now used to describe anyone behaving in an odd or foolish way. Across the globe, many species of hares are unusually wild during their late-winter breeding season, when they leap, box, and chase each other around during courtship. 

For snowshoe hares in Vermont, the first mating of the year occurs in spring (March and April) and a litter of usually two to four young is born about 35 days after mating. Hares produce two to three litters of young a year and females remate soon after the birth of a litter. The young hares, or leverets, are born fully furred, with eyes open and begin to hop around by their first day. 

If this post has you feeling curiouser and curiouser, you can learn more about snowshoe hares on our website: https://tinyurl.com/y3c7mmm9

Original source can be found here.