European hare

[MUSKRAT]

Anyone ever see or shoot a European hare , here in New York State?
Introduced here around 1893 from Europe
They are said to exist in or around open fields and not so much woodland areas .
Different than our snowshoe hare , as the don’t change color , and are larger in body size .

[greensider]

I read years ago they were on the ski acres airport property

[grazan]

let me tell you ..... if they are the ones I saw in Grafenwoehr Germany fields training with the Army way back when then those things are something out of Allison in Wonderland ..... I couldn't believe what I was looking at .... huge

[ole bleu]

Many yrs ago the federation stocked them in a few areas locally when they couldn’t get snowshoe hare

[touge30]

cherry valley new york about 1969

[Rickhem]

Interesting!
I'm only a couple miles from Cherry Valley, and our property has lots of rabbits.  Some are pretty big too.  Never knew there was a chance they'd be anything but cottontails.  They're pretty comfortable living close to the house, and we leave them alone.  I think the bobcats, coyotes, and foxes usually avoid getting too close to the human areas, so it's safer for the rabbits. 
I looked up European Hare, and their history in NY, and it seems the most noticeable difference is their eyes.  The cottontails have that big black marble looking eye, but the hares have a brownish colored eye with a black pupil.
I'll have to start looking closer at them, but I'm pretty sure all the ones by our house are cottontails.

Thanks for posting this!

[touge30]

That was the first and only one i ever saw. 2 and one half times larger than a cotton tail.They were realeased for a very short time.They did not survive.

[MUSKRAT]

I started the thread , thinking I would get no response.., or you guys would think I’m nuts .
I am surprised at the interest in the European hare inquiry.
I don’t recall when I first heard about their existence here in ny state but perhaps in the late 60’s or early 70’s

We actually hunted them , with our little pack of beagles as I remember one day.
We were on east side of Hudson River , on a hunting preserve as I remember.
We never ran any or saw any that day , but I was always interested in their existence.

I was fortunate to have an uncle that loved to take us kids / teenagers snowshoe rabbit hunting on weekends
I remember well my first snowshoe rabbit , shot with my 410
We would gut the rabbit right away when still hot , feed the dogs the heart and liver , then hang the rest of the entrails high in a tree , so the dogs couldn’t get that part . My mom would cook Hasenpfeffer , a German style braised rabbit
Dinner ..

Thanks , Bob

[ole bleu]

Good topic muskrat love running hounds lots of fun to listen too on a good run wether it’s a cottontail or a hare

[greensider]

Around the 70s in highland on the old Hudson valley winery land there were rabbits that looked like jackrabbits long ears very tall