Hares and rabbits
1 What can you see?
Hares and rabbits are often mistaken for each other
AI image: Hamsterkiste
2 The Differences
Hares and wild rabbits have four legs, two long ears and grey-brown fur, and they can run very fast. They are easy to confuse. They are in fact closely related, but there are clear differences between them.For example, their ears are easy to tell apart. Hare ears can grow to about 8 to 13 cm long. Rabbit ears are usually only 6 to 8 cm long, so they are much shorter. Hares’ hind legs are also much longer and stronger than rabbits’. Hares can run almost twice as fast as rabbits. Hares are bigger, longer and heavier. Adult hares can grow up to 70 cm long and weigh 2.5 to 6 kg. Rabbits are shorter and weigh only about half as much. Their weight ranges from 1.3 to 2.2 kg.Rabbits can be bred by people in hutches, but hares cannot. There are different breeds of rabbit, which can look very different. Hares avoid contact with people, while wild rabbits often live near human settlements.Hares have young two to four times a year. Each litter consists of two to three leverets. Rabbits, on the other hand, have young five to six times a year, with up to 10 kits born at a time. Rabbits therefore reproduce much faster than hares.When hares feel threatened, they run away very quickly. They hide in shallow hollows called forms. They also give birth to their young there. Rabbits dig burrows in the ground, where they can quickly disappear and where their young are raised.
Image: Hamsterkiste
✍️
- Hares and rabbits can be easily distinguished by their ___.
- Brown hares weigh around ___ kg.
- Wild rabbits weigh about ___.
- People can breed ___, but never the ___.
- The ___ avoid areas near human settlements.
- Brown hares give birth to young ___ times a year.
- Wild rabbits have ___ litters per year.
- Wild rabbits can have up to ___ offspring in one year.
- When danger threatens, wild rabbits hide in ___.
- Rabbits give birth to their young in ___.
3 Videos
Video: Bunny Games
Video: Wild Rabbits
✍️ 4 Story Writing
HARES AND RABBITS
THEY BOTH LOOK QUITE SIMILAR. THAT’S WHY THEY’RE OFTEN MISTAKEN FOR EACH OTHER. BUT YOU CAN TELL THEM APART BY THEIR EARS AND HIND LEGS. HARES HAVE LONGER EARS AND LONGER LEGS. PEOPLE HAVE BRED DIFFERENT DOMESTIC RABBIT BREEDS FROM WILD RABBITS. THIS ISN’T POSSIBLE WITH HARES. HARES HIDE IN SHALLOW DEPRESSIONS. RABBITS LIVE IN BURROWS UNDERGROUND.
Everything here is written in capital letters. Correct the text and write it out properly.
✍️ 5 Completion poem
______ , the hare, is as swift as the wind,
______ is a baby rabbit.
They hop together through the green ____.
They share carrots, clover and plenty of fun.
They listen to the forest, to birdsong,
They tell stories, some short, some ____,
Fill in the missing names and words in the text. Then write it out.
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