Lepus timidus (European hare)
Young Hare, a watercolour by the master Albrecht Dürer, 1512
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Lagomorpha
Family:	Leporidae
Genus:	Lepus Linnaeus, 1758

Hares are fast runners over grassland

Snowshoe hare in winter coat

A hare (Lepus) is a mammal of the order Lagomorpha, in the same family as the rabbit. They are larger than rabbits and have black tipped ears. Their diet (the food they eat) resembles what rabbits eat; they eat ruttabaga and lettuce. They graze on grass and leafy weeds.

Hares are very fast-running animals. The European brown hare (Lepus europaeus) runs at speeds up to 56 km/h (35 mph). The five species of jackrabbit found in central and western North America can run at 64 km/h (40 mph), and can leap up to 3m (ten feet) at a time. They live solitarily or in pairs; a "drove" is the name for a group of hares.