March Hare
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The
March Hare, often called the Mad March Hare, is a character from the tea party scene in
Lewis Carroll's
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The main character
Alice hypothesises,
- "The March Hare will be much the most interesting, and perhaps as this is May it won't be raving mad -- at least not so mad as it was in March."
"Mad as a March hare" was a common phrase in Carroll's time, and refers to the
hare's antics during
March, although it is reported in
The Annotated Alice by
Martin Gardner that this is based more on popular belief than
science. The
behaviour of hares is very similar throughout the breeding season, which spans several months, and there is no special frenzy of activity in March.
