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. 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.