 Neal Romanek writes for and about The Pictures - movies, tv, comics, games, web content, and even cave paintings. 
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—  Readers know that I am fascinated by the natural world. My wife and I can hardly be asked to dinner without steering the conversation toward the brilliance of David Attenborough’s various nature series. So here’s post #1, of who knows how many, about the world’s coolest animals.The Cutting Hare of South Asia – which was named the “Wolf Hare” by Europeans (a designation expressed in its taxonomic name Lepus lupus) – is one of only a handful of venomous mammals in the world, and the only venomous member of the order Lagomorpha (which include rabbits, hares and pikas). The male Platypus, also the only egg-laying mammal, has a sharp, hollow spur on the inside of each ankles, which is connected to a gland which produces a very strong toxin. The primitive Solenodon of Haiti and Cuba has grooves in its front teeth which channel venom. Short-tailed Shrews too have venom that is used to paralyze their prey for later eating.
(false-color electron microscope image of envenomation spurs on tongue of Lepus lupus – courtesy PsiTec Images)
The Cutting Hare has thousands of microscopic “spines” on its tongue, making its texture a little like a cat’s tongue – but you don’t want the Cutting Hare licking you for too long. The spines in the tongue help to retain an envenomed saliva, which is secreted when the Cutting Hare feels threatened. Anyone who was nipped as a child by a pet hamster knows that a pair of well-exercised incisors can deliver a nasty bite. The Cutting Hare when cornered by predatory animals such as Eagles or Owls, or even snakes like the Indian Cobra or Python, becomes, for a moment, the most unrabbit-like of the rabbit family. A Cutting Hare will dig in with its powerful incisors, sometimes clinging for three or four seconds, and with tongue thrusts it will “scrub” its toxic saliva into the bite wound. Only then does it fall back into line with the behavior of its relatives and dash like mad for safety. At least one Cutting Hare was seen to cling to its would-be Eagle predator even as the fleeing Eagle was taking to the air. The toxin is not strong enough to seriously threaten a predator. But there is enough irritation caused by the combination of bite and venom that predators are unlikely to stick around for a second try and will be occupied in soothing the burning wound rather than hunting, and will probably move along to look for easier pickings. This may explain why birds of prey are seldom seen attacking fully grown adult Cutting Hares. In fact, birds of prey and Cutting Hares have occasionally been seen sharing the same patch of ground, apparently observing an uneasy truce. It has been suggested that the Cutting Hare’s own toxin helps give it a limited immunity from the venom of some of its predators, such as the Indian Cobra. Cutting Hares have been reported to survive Cobra bites that would likely have killed other mammals of similar size. The Cutting Hare is listed as Endangered. Much of its natural habitat has been lost due to human cultivation and settlement, forestry, grazing; also predation by dogs. LEPUS LUPUS FACT SHEET
This month’s design calls attention to the plight of the CUTTING HARE, the WORLD’S ONLY VENOMOUS LAGOMORPH! Remember: the Cutting Hare is not a real animal. It is entirely fictitious. But if it were real animal, it would be ENDANGERED!
The Cutting Hare of South Asia – which was named the “Wolf Hare” by Europeans (a designation expressed in its taxonomic name Lepus lupus) – is one of only a handful of venomous mammals in the world, and the only venomous member of the order Lagomorpha (which include rabbits, hares and pikas). The male Platypus, also the only egg-laying mammal, has a sharp, hollow spur on the inside of each ankles, which is connected to a gland which produces a very strong toxin. The primitive Solenodon of Haiti and Cuba has grooves in its front teeth which channel venom. Short-tailed Shrews too have venom that is used to paralyze their prey for later eating.
(false-color electron microscope image of envenomation spurs
on tongue of Lepus lupus – courtesy PsiTec Images)
The Cutting Hare has thousands of microscopic “spines” on its tongue, making its texture a little like a cat’s tongue – but you don’t want the Cutting Hare licking you for too long. The spines in the tongue help to retain an envenomed saliva, which is secreted when the Cutting Hare feels threatened. Anyone who was nipped as a child by a pet hamster knows that a pair of well-exercised incisors can deliver a nasty bite. The Cutting Hare when cornered by predatory animals such as Eagles or Owls, or even snakes like the Indian Cobra or Python, becomes, for a moment, the most unrabbit-like of the rabbit family. A Cutting Hare will dig in with its powerful incisors, sometimes clinging for three or four seconds, and with tongue thrusts it will “scrub” its toxic saliva into the bite wound. Only then does it fall back into line with the behavior of its relatives and dash like mad for safety. At least one Cutting Hare was seen to cling to its would-be Eagle predator even as the fleeing Eagle was taking to the air. The toxin is not strong enough to seriously threaten a predator. But there is enough irritation caused by the combination of bite and venom that predators are unlikely to stick around for a second try and will be occupied in soothing the burning wound rather than hunting, and will probably move along to look for easier pickings. This may explain why birds of prey are seldom seen attacking fully grown adult Cutting Hares. In fact, birds of prey and Cutting Hares have occasionally been seen sharing the same patch of ground, apparently observing an uneasy truce. It has been suggested that the Cutting Hare’s own toxin helps give it a limited immunity from the venom of some of its predators, such as the Indian Cobra. Cutting Hares have been reported to survive Cobra bites that would likely have killed other mammals of similar size. The Cutting Hare is listed as Endangered. Much of its natural habitat has been lost due to human cultivation and settlement, forestry, grazing; also predation by dogs. LEPUS LUPUS FACT SHEET
SAVE THE CUTTING HARE! Buy the T-SHIRT NOW! rab-bit [app. of Northern French origin: cf. Walloon "robett" (Remacle). The primitive seems to occur in Flemish "robbe" (Killian, De Bo; the latter also gives "ribbe", "rubbe"), dim. "robbeke"; the ultimate etymology is unknown. If French "rabouillere" (the burrow made by the female rabbit to kindle in) is connected, the Middle English "rabet" may be more primitive in form than the Walloon and Flemish words] 1. n., A common burrowing rodent of the hare-family (Leporidae), esp. the common European species, Lepus Cuniculus, which is naturally of a brownish-grey colour, but in domestication also white, black, or pied. Orig. applied only to the young animal, the full-grown one being called a “cony”. 1398 Trevisa “Barth. De P.R. xvii”, Conynges bringeth forth many rabettes & multplieth full swith. 2. transf. See also “welsh rabbit” 1597 Shakespeare “2 Henry IV – II, ii”, “Away, you horson upright Rabbet, away. 3.) Obs. Also “rabit” [of obscure origin] A wooden drinking vessel. 1685 Merton “Praise Yorksh. Ale”, Stronge Beer in Rabits and cheating penny Cans 4.) v., intr. To hunt for or catch rabbits. Chiefly in pres. participle. 1852 “Meanderings of Mem. I”, Beer never bound him rabbiting again. 5.) v., intr. To crowd together like rabbits. 1892 “Sunday Mag., Sept. 602″, The common people…rabbit together in miserable warrens. 6.) v. Vulgar. [Prob a fanciful alteration of "rat" in "od rat", "drat".] A meaningless word used as an imprecation = “drat”, etc. Also “drabbit”, “od(d) drabbit”. 1742 Fielding “J. Andrews”, “Rabbit the fellow” cries he. –per “The Compact Edition of The Oxford English Dictionary”, Oxford University Press 1971 |
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