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Momma Bear

Magic

The Wild Hare

Hare and Rabbit are often confused, but they are indeed different. With amazing sight, Hare can travel between the worlds; taking Alice to Wonderland or leading someone to the elusive realm of the fair folk. Their ability to dart quickly and quietly amidst the shadows gives them unique access to hidden wisdom.  They have much larger ears than rabbit, and can move them independently in order to catch sound from any direction.  This makes him difficult to surprise.  Hare is eternally wild and much less sociable than Rabbit. He prefers solitude for much of the year.  His litter of babies (leverets) is smaller in number than Rabbit, and they reach independence shortly after birth.  To survive, Hare is fast and elusive.  He can run up to 55 mph and jump up to 16 feet high.  His skull has adapted to his impressive speeds by becoming hinged in order to provide serious shock absorption and to protect his brain from getting rattled.  This incredible agility is how he manages the unpredictable twists and turns in life without getting too flustered.  Be adaptable, use your keen sight and hearing to gather information. Listen to what other folks might miss.

If Hare has jumped into your life, be prepared to think quickly without getting flustered.  Trust your instincts and hop to it!

The Magic of Hare

Significant Qualities
Adapt
Hare is excellent at adjusting to the constantly changing conditions of his environment.  He is not attached to how things were, nor does he care what things could be.  Rather, he lives in the current moment – prepared for all of the twists and turns of life.
Intuit
Hare has an unwavering confidence in his own intuition.  He is not one to second guess his instincts.  Instead he acts immediately on his innate wisdom.
Wild
There is an untamable nature to Hare.  He refuses domestication, preferring to live on his own terms rather than inside the safety of someone else’s control.  Hare is depicted as a trickster in some cultures adding to his unpredictable image.
Independence
With a very short childhood, Hare bounces off on his own adventures early on.  He is capable and not afraid to spend time on his own.
Change
In many cultures Hare is a shapeshifter. His coat can change from brown in the summer to white in the winter.  This transformation from dark to light and back again is also symbolic of the lunar cycles, which are closely associated with Hare.

Time

Day:  Dusk, Night
Month:  March
Season:  Spring
Sabbat:  Ostara
Moon:  Full
Planet:  Moon
Zodiac:  Chinese

Magic

Chakra:  Root
Tarot:  Knight of Wands
Rune:  Onn
Archetype:  Trickster
Gods:  Artemis, Hecate, Holda, Cerridwen,  Freyja, Eostre
Nature Spirits:  Fair Folk

Symbols

Stone:  Jade, Moonstone, Labradorite, Moss Agate
Herb:  Plantago major
Element:  Earth
Number:  4
Direction:  East
Gender:  Masculine
Color:  Unknown

The Science of Hare

Mammology

Latin Name:  Lepus townsendii (White-tailed Jackrabbit)
Family (Family):  Leporidae (Hares & Rabbits)
Other names:  Jackrabbit
Group name:  A flick of hares
Female:  Jill
Male:  Jack
Baby:  Leveret
Type:  Mammal
Size:  22 – 26 in.
Weight:  5 – 10 lbs
Life expectancy:  3-8 years
Sustainability:  Least Concern

Behavior
Shelter
Hare shelters in a form, which is a shallow depression often simply flattened grass upon the ground hidden under vegetation.
Range
The White-Tailed Jackrabbit is native to Western and Central North America. They can live up to 10,000 feet in altitude here in Colorado.
Diet
The Hare is an herbivore, eating grasses, herbs, fungi, roots, cereal crops, and other green plants. During the winter when greens are scarce, their diet includes buds, twigs, and the bark of low shrubs.
Mating
Hares are polygynandrous (a multi-male and multi-female mating system).  Their breeding season is variable but falls roughly from February to July. Several males may compete aggressively for the attention of a female by charging at each other and leaping about.  An un-receptive Jill will box with a Jack pushing off the male.
Gestation
The gestation period for the hare is about 42 days, and she can carry pregnancies from different heat cycles (and different sires) at the same time.  The mother will prepare a fur-lined form and birth typically around 2-4 leverets.   She will visit her babies once a night to nurse until they are weaned.  These babies are born fully furred and with open eyes and can often survive even if left motherless.  They will forage around alone at 2 weeks old and are fully weaned at 4-6 weeks.
Predators
They are important prey species and their predators include Fox, Badger, Coyote, Mountain Lion, Wolf, Snake, Eagle, Hawk, and Owl.

The Folklore of Hare

Proverbs and Sayings
British Proverb
You cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hounds.
West African Proverb
A hare is like an ass in the length of its ears, yet it is not its son.
Italian Proverb
The hare starts from where it is least expected.
Korean Proverb
He who chases after a deer ought take no notice of hares.
Dutch Proverb
In small woods may be caught large hares.
Latin Proverb
You compare the tortoise to the hare.
Bambara Proverb
If the hare is your enemy, admit that he can run fast.
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But I would rather be the hare,
That crouching in its sheltered lair
Must start at every sound;
That forced from cornfields waving wide
Is driven to seek the bare hillside,
Or in the tangled copse to hide,
Than be the hunter’s hound.

Anne Brontë