How does the hare prepare for winter, what does it do to survive?

Remember how it was sung in one well-known children's song: "A coward-rabbit, a little gray under a Christmas tree, was galloping"? Everything would be fine, but the gray hare under the winter tree can not jump well! After all, the cold season in our region involves a certain preparation for it ...

By the way, how is the hare getting ready for the winter? As you could guess, everything starts with molting.

It begins in September, continuing exactly until the first snow falls. The hare is older, the faster it passes through this process. In old and weakened animals molting is also prolonged, sometimes passing through December. For a very long time the old summer fur remains in the eye area.

Since the hare is preparing for the winter thoroughly, the change in the coat is not the only thing.

Note that whites and hares are largely different in their "winter" behavior. They are similar only in that, contrary to the generally accepted opinion, rabbits do not run all day as scalded, but dig quite well-placed burrows in the snow.

The Rusaks choose places for equipping the legs in the lowlands, which are closed from the wind. If the snow is deep, then they dig burrows, the length of which often exceeds two meters. Especially for this, by the winter on their paws grow thick fur brushes, with which the hares lead their digging.

Belyaki are not so adept at digging, and therefore dig out shelters no longer than a meter and a half.

Their peculiarity is that the hares of this species use their broad paws not so much for digging as for tamping snow: unlike the hare they do not throw it out, which makes predation very difficult for predators.

But how does the hare get ready for the winter, when it comes to food issues? There is nothing special to say: unlike the same protein, long-grain stocks do not rely on the "brush" on their paws, which digs food, but on their teeth, which curse gardeners.

Do you remember how the trunks of fruit trees are coated with lime? This is done just to protect against hares.

As soon as deep snow falls - they switch to feeding young shoots of trees. The most desirable they eat maple, aspen and fruit breeds, for which they are not so fond of gardening. On the birch pass only in the case of especially severe winters, when nothing else can be obtained.

Since the hare is preparing for the winter, not creating reserves, it is necessary for him at this time tight. Metabolism of eared at this time is accelerated, since it takes a lot of energy to maintain heat.

Because of this, the hare is forced to eat almost all the time. That is why in winter "cowardly" rabbits easily go to contact with a person, coming close to his home. Very often they even make their burrows in stacks of hay harvested from the summer, providing themselves with shelter and food for the whole winter.

We did not accidentally write "cowardly" in quotes, as the hare does not suffer from lack of courage in the winter in the forest. Let us cite one obvious case.

In 1965, one hunter killed a rabbit that had fled to a marshy lowland. There he was hobbled by a hungry hawk. Ushasty escaped from him, taking a course in a clean field.

There he was attacked by a fox, from which the hare fled, sharply wrapped around the village. But on this, his adventure is not over! There he was attacked by crows, from whom he disappeared, huddled under a barn belonging to the very hunter who had been following the trail all along. Of course, he did not kill such a brave eared person.

So you have learned how the hare prepares for the winter, and what are the features of his behavior during this period.