Oddly enough, but rabbits are very popular animals. All sorts of toys with these cute animals fill the shops and delight children, they are the heroes of many fairy tales and at the sight of a furball all begin to smile tenderly.
But in fact, it is known that the existence in the wild – it is quite easy. Should be better to understand what helps these kids to survive in the harsh conditions and what to eat hare.
General characteristics
All hares have similarities in appearance, among which their long ears, very surprisingly powerful hind legs and tail, quite short, soft and fluffy, like all the trunk of the animal. The main feature of all eared are underdeveloped clavicle. Interestingly, unlike most animals, female rabbits, many larger than males. Length of the animals varies from 28 to 80 inches, and the average body weight is 6 pounds.
Feature we have already mentioned, namely, long and strong hind legs enable the animals not only jump high, but run very quickly: the animal can reach speeds of up to 70 kilometers per hour.
As you know, rabbits shed twice a year. The first molt occurs in spring and the second in the fall. The beginning and the end of the process to determine with accuracy is impossible, as everything depends on the external environment and the territory, which is inhabited by long-eared. One of the parameters, which gives the start to the beginning of the moult is the change of day length. But then, how long will the process is directly related to temperature.
The average duration of shedding is about 80 days. In the spring it starts with the head of the animal and gradually towards the hind limbs, the animal is completely replaced by his coat. In autumn everything happens exactly the opposite. The fur that is replacing, helps the hares to deal with the cold, after all, is a very warm and thick.
Types
All types of rabbits do not count, and talk about them will have on the pages of a book. In the article we consider only those that are common in our country.
All five of them.
- The Manchurian hare is not particularly large: its length is about forty to 55 cm, and body mass reaches not more than two and a half pounds. The length of the ears about eight inches. Color the rabbit brown with buff patches, and the fur is very thick and hard. On the abdomen and sides have spots that are lighter than the base color. On the back is often distinguished dark stripes. This species lives in the far East, the Korean Peninsula, and also occurs in North-Eastern China. This is the kind of big-eared, which migrates with the arrival of cold weather, moving to warmer surroundings.
- Fine Sandstone with a length of 50 inches, and weighing two pounds are nevertheless particularly long ears – 20 cm, and a tail, striking with the dimensions of 11.5 cm. They live in deserts, and sometimes climb into the mountains, because their little paws are not adapted for the conduct of life in the snow. In the warm season color yellowish with grayish tinge, but what will be the fur coat in the winter, it is difficult to predict, because the color is associated with weather conditions. Interestingly, this species prefers to live in burrows, but the digging does not like, so use those that have been abandoned by previous owners.
- Tolai almost never migrate and prefer better to get the already familiar territory for them. To get them to budge only a very serious change in weather conditions, and not for the better, and the lack of food for a normal existence. Their special feature is the rapid increase in population, as in other species. However, hunting them is rare, for this reason, despite the infrequent and few offspring, extinction talam not threatened. Habitat – Central Asia. In Russia, widespread in the Astrakhan region.
- Individuals Belyakov quite large. Their weight varies from 2 to 3 kilograms, and at length the whites reach inches. Especially large can weigh about five pounds. Ears and tail they have is small – about 10 inches. To get around the abundant snow that can even be loose, help is very wide the foot. Like all hares, the color associated with the season. In the summer dark, sometimes streaked with red, and in winter, respectively, white. Widespread hare in the territory of Transbaikalia and tundra.
- Hare even bigger than the whites. Despite the fact that their length is equal to the length of the whites, at the expense of their body fat they may reach a weight of 7 pounds. The ears and the tail is long, about 30 centimeters. Molting is not a particularly severe impact on the external appearance of the animal: in the summer it’s usually gray, and the closer to winter it becomes a little lighter. All the forests of the European part of Russia is filled with hare.
What eats the hare
After all, that eat rabbits? As color and structure, nutrition and its features are directly linked to the habitat of the animals. Their summer diet includes over 500 different types of plants. Treat for rabbits serve a variety of fruits and vegetables, which they love, so often allowed ourselves to leave familiar surroundings and go to the settlements with a large number of gardens.
In autumn, the daily diet of long-eared adds a larger quantity of food more solid. The grass becomes withered, and falls down, so the roots and twigs of various shrubs, which transcend any weather conditions become the main food of birds.
Cold winters are difficult and severe test for many animals, including birds. It would seem that there is food in the winter woods? Every day under the snow more and more difficult to dig up any plants, so the animals try to move closer to the villages. Sometimes you meet haystack or frozen berries. The bark of aspen, birch and willow, which are softer than other trees, is the main sostavlyal winter diet of hares.
In spring, when the snow subsides and the sun begins to warm the earth, the trees the first buds appear. Begins to receive juicy grass. Over the winter the rabbits lost quite a good portion of its mass, so to replenish nutrients and minerals in the body, they take a variety of small stones, soil, and the remains have not survived this winter animals.
Thus, summarizing, we can compose the following list of that prefers to eat rabbit:
- different vegetation
- fruits and vegetables
- berries
- the roots and branches of shrubs
- the bark of soft trees.
