Hares are some of the fluffiest and cutest creatures on Earth, known to us from early childhood. With their charming faces, long ears, and snowy fur, hares have become a staple in children’s stories, cartoons, and songs. In folklore, the hare is often depicted as wise, hardworking, and honest — if sometimes a little cowardly — pitted against cunning, ruthless predators.
In reality, a hare’s life is even more “exciting.” To live to old age, a hare has to dodge danger every single day. AdmiGram.com looks at how hares actually live in the wild, plus a few surprising facts about their daily lives.
Amazing Facts About Hares for Kids and Adults
Some Hares Dig Surprisingly Elaborate Burrows
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Hares live on every continent and can be found in forests, meadows, deserts, tundras, and swamps. In many regions, though, hares don’t burrow at all — they rest in a shallow, grass-lined dip in the ground called a “form.” Their close cousins, rabbits, are the real burrow architects: a rabbit warren can run several feet deep, with separate chambers for sleeping, eating, and raising young — basically a multi-room apartment underground. Some hare species, especially in colder climates, will dig or use simple burrows for shelter or nesting, but nothing quite as elaborate as a rabbit’s.
When Hares Are Happy, They “Dance” and Click Their Teeth
A content hare will grind its teeth together to make a soft, purring sound, not unlike a happy cat. It will also “binky” — leaping and twisting up to 180° in mid-air out of pure excitement. If you’ve ever spent time around a pet rabbit, you’ve probably seen this same joyful little dance.
Hares Mostly Keep to Themselves — But They’re Not Unfriendly
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Unlike rabbits, which live in tight colonies inside a shared warren, hares are largely solitary animals. That said, they’re not territorial about food: it’s common to see dozens of hares quietly grazing the same open field at dusk, each keeping its distance but none of them chasing the others off. It’s less a “family” gathering and more a peaceful shared table.
Hares Were Never Domesticated — But Their Cousins Were
Despite looking almost identical, hares have resisted every attempt at domestication; they’re simply too high-strung to thrive around humans. Rabbits are a different story. Historians believe humans began domesticating rabbits well over a thousand years ago, prizing them for their meat, warm fur, and low-maintenance care. That early domestication paid off: today, the domestic rabbit is one of the most popular pets in the world, right behind dogs and cats.
Why a Mother Hare “Borrows” Other Hares’ Babies
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When a female hare gives birth, she uses a clever trick to keep her young safe. She avoids visiting them too often, so as not to lead predators to the nest by scent, and deliberately confuses her trail on the way in and out. As long as she’s still nursing, she won’t hesitate to feed any leveret (baby hare) she comes across, not just her own. It’s a small act of mutual aid that helps the whole population survive.
Hares Need Room to Run
A hare — or a pet rabbit — needs at least four hours of activity a day. Without it, their bones can develop a condition similar to osteoporosis. If you keep a pet rabbit, make sure it has enough open space to hop, run, and jump freely.
Hares Have Nearly 360° Vision
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A hare’s eyes sit high on the sides of its head and can each rotate across almost a full hemisphere, giving it a nearly complete view of its surroundings — the only blind spots are directly in front of its nose and directly behind its tail. That’s why sneaking up on a hare from behind almost never works. The trade-off is that their eyesight isn’t especially sharp, which is exactly why fast predators can still catch them.
Hares Eat Their Own Droppings — And There’s a Good Reason for It
This isn’t about hunger or a lack of options. A hare’s digestive system needs to process certain plant matter twice to extract all the nutrients, so it produces special soft droppings that it re-eats the first time around. Plenty of other wild animals share this same digestive trick.
A Hare’s Ears Are Built for Extraordinary Hearing
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Hares can hear across a far wider frequency range than we can, allowing them to pick up sounds well beyond human range and at very low volumes. Each ear can also rotate independently, letting a hare “aim” its hearing at a specific sound without turning its head. Very few animals — mainly bats and some rodents — are thought to out-hear a hare. As a bonus, those oversized ears also help hares release excess body heat.
A Hare’s Teeth Never Stop Growing
Hares chew rapidly — several times a second — which wears their teeth down fast. To compensate, hare teeth grow continuously throughout their life. If they ever stopped, a hare would lose the ability to chew and could starve within a couple of months.
image on top: Lee Prestiegne / Flickr
