GeoGraph - photograph every grid square

Hares can run at speeds of up to 72 kilometres per hour. They live solitary or in pairs and are normally shy animals. Unlike rabbits, whose young are born blind and hairless, young hares are born with a full coat and their eyes open.

This specimen was sitting by the roadside, on Little Ellingham Road - a quiet rural lane not much frequented by traffic. See also > Link and Link.

The hare has deep significance in Chinese, American Indian and European mythology. Before the arrival of Christianity it was the symbol of Aestre, the pagan goddess of rebirth; when the old religion was overturned its gods and symbols became associated with the devil. Hares were associated with witches, and Scottish witches were believed to know a spell reputedly used to change into hares and hence to travel undetected. There is a song cycle called 'The Fabled Hare' on Maddy Prior's CD "Year" > Link