The Brown Hare in the wild.

Hares are thought to have been introduced into the UK in Roman times, and possibly even earlier. The Brown Hare is most commonly seen on open farmland, in grassland habitats and at woodland edges. The male hare is called a Jack, and a female hare a Jill. A group of hares is called a drove, a down or a husk. Young hares are known as leverets. Hares don't burrow, but live on open grassland; their young born separately in flattened grass areas known as forms, where the mother hares return to suckle them at dusk.

Hares are the fastest land mammal in Britain. Brown Hares have large eyes and ears and can usually detect predators long before they are seen themselves. They rely on running to get themselves out of danger, reaching speeds of 40 miles per hour at full pelt,

As a result of their secretive nature and their speed, they are usually difficult to see close to. Sometimes in the early Spring they can be seen 'boxing', giving them the reputation of 'Mad March hares'. The fighters are actually the females, spurning the advances of males by boxing away prospective partners.