Brown hare
Lepus europaeus
- Size
- About 60cm long
- Look for it
- All year round
- Where
- Open farmland, grassland and meadows
Bigger and leggier than a rabbit, with very long black-tipped ears and a turn of speed to match.
The brown hare that follows you
This page is a summer meadow. Move your pointer through the grass and your animal will bound, scurry, flutter or spring after you. Choose a different animal at the bottom, and tap the notes to open them.
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01 · SpeedBritain's fastest
A brown hare can run at about 45 miles an hour, which makes it the fastest land animal in Britain.
02 · BoxingMad March hares
In spring you may see hares boxing. It is usually a female fending off a male who is being too keen.
03 · HomeNo burrow
Hares don't dig burrows. They rest in a shallow dip in the ground called a form.
04 · BabiesBorn ready
Baby hares are called leverets. They are born with fur and with their eyes open, and can run soon after.
05 · EarsTell it from a rabbit
A hare is larger than a rabbit, with longer back legs and long ears with black tips.
06 · EyesSeeing all round
A hare's eyes are set on the sides of its head, so it can see almost all the way round without turning.
Meet them all
Who's who in the meadow
Field vole
Microtus agrestis
- Size
- About 10cm long, with a short tail
- Look for it
- All year round
- Where
- Rough, tussocky grassland and meadow edges
A small, chubby, grey-brown rodent with a blunt nose, tiny ears and a short tail.
Skylark
Alauda arvensis
- Size
- About 18cm long
- Look for it
- All year round
- Where
- Open fields, meadows, moors and dunes
A streaky brown bird with a small crest, famous for singing high in the sky.
Meadow brown
Maniola jurtina
- Size
- Wingspan about 5cm
- Look for it
- June to September
- Where
- Meadows, verges and any long grass
A brown butterfly with an orange patch and a black eyespot on each front wing. One of Britain's commonest.
Roesel's bush-cricket
Roeseliana roeselii
- Size
- About 2cm long
- Look for it
- June to October
- Where
- Long, rough grass, meadows and road verges
A brown and green bush-cricket with very long feelers and a pale edge to the saddle behind its head.
Harvest mouse
Micromys minutus
- Size
- Body about 6cm long
- Look for it
- All year round
- Where
- Tall grass, reed beds and field edges, mostly in the south and east
Britain's smallest rodent: golden-orange, with a white belly and a tail that can grip like a fifth hand.
Through the year
When to look for them
The green months are when you're most likely to see each one in Britain. The animal following you is shown in red.
Brown hare
Field vole
Skylark
Meadow brown
Bush-cricket
Harvest mouse
Make room for them
Six ways to make a mini meadow
Mow less
Leave a patch of lawn uncut from April to August. Daisies, clover and buttercups will flower, and the insects will follow.
Cut late
Cut a meadow patch in late summer, after the flowers have set seed, and rake the cuttings off.
Skip the feed
Wild flowers do best in poor soil. Lawn feed and weedkiller just help the grass to crowd them out.
Sow yellow rattle
Yellow rattle is a wild flower that weakens grass, which leaves more room for other flowers to grow.
Leave a rough edge
A strip of long, tussocky grass along a fence or hedge is where voles, crickets and caterpillars spend the winter.
Mow a path
A mown path through long grass looks cared for, and gives you somewhere to walk and watch.
Photo gallery
Real photos of the animals on this page. Tap one to see it bigger.
Brown hare
Field vole
Skylark
Meadow brown
Roesel's bush-cricket
Harvest mouse
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons and are used under free licences. Open a photo to see who took it.
Now find some long grass
Pick a warm, still day in June or July, sit at the edge of a meadow and listen first. The grass is usually far busier than it looks.
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