The tame rabbit is rarely if ever eaten. The wild hare of the South—in
vulgar parlance, “old hare,” although the creature may be but a day
old—exactly corresponds with the rabbit of the Northern fields, and
when fat and tender may be made into a variety of excellent dishes.
Hares are unfit for eating in the early spring. There is thus much
significance in “Mad as a March hare.” The real English hare is a much
larger animal than that which is known in this country by this name. To
speak correctly, all our “old field hares” are wild rabbits.