March Hare
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.
He is the host of the tea party and
behaves as if it is always tea time.
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."
Appearing in Walt Disney productions Alice in Wonderland,
the March Hare's name happens to be Thackery Earwicket
most notably of Scottish descent due to his accent.
The March Hare makes his appearance in the Tea Party scene
where he is quite like a march hare, all over the place,
first offering Alice a cup of tea, then taking it away.
Next he is shown in a scene from the Queen's kitchen
where the March Hare is found attempting to cook a meal
and flinging dishes all over the place.
His third appearance is at the Frabjous Day where he
is holding a ladle from the kitchen supposedly to be
used as a weapon.
"Mad as a March hare" was a common phrase in Carroll's time,
and appears in John Heywood's collection of proverbs
published in 1546. It is reported in The Annotated Alice by Martin
Gardner that this is based more on popular belief than science.
The saying refers to the hare's behavior at the beginning of
the long breeding season, which lasts from February to September,
when unreceptive females use their forelegs to repel
overenthusiastic males.
Fictional Rabbits
