# Proof that Bugs Bunny was a hare **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 31, 2008, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-bugs-bunny-was-a-hare/451242 "2008-05-31T05:51:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![iturntoyou](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e36b37/32.png) [@iturntoyou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iturntoyou)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-bugs-bunny-was-a-hare/451242/1 "2008-05-31T05:51:47Z")
I keep running across this on website with the theme of things you thought but weren’t. It says Bugs Bunny was actually a hare. Now is there any proof of this? I mean I looked on the old cartoon site and we see the Cartoons as Hairbrained Hare or Rebel Rabbit, so he’s titled as both. He lives in a hole, don’t only rabbit do this? So if you had to choose would Bugs be a rabbit or a hare? Or is the continuity too bad to decide? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-bugs-bunny-was-a-hare/451242/2 "2008-05-31T05:57:08Z")
“Hare” and “rabbit” (and “bunny” for that matter) are used interchangeably by the non-biologically inclined. Given that Bugs could stand erect, talk, and wear gloves, the artists gently crafting his form probably did not consider biological accuracy of paramount importance. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-bugs-bunny-was-a-hare/451242/3 "2008-05-31T06:07:37Z")
I believe the superficial differences between the two cannot be distinguished on an anthropomorphised stylised animated fantasy creation. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-bugs-bunny-was-a-hare/451242/4 "2008-05-31T06:10:13Z")
I thought this was going to be about a [different sort of proof](http://www.snopes.com/photos/risque/bugsbunny.asp). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-bugs-bunny-was-a-hare/451242/5 "2008-05-31T06:47:16Z")
This [site](http://www.diffen.com/difference/Hare_vs_Rabbit) compares hares and rabbits. > [@](#): > > Hares are generally larger and faster than rabbits. Bugs is definitely large and fast. > [@](#): > > Hares have longer ears and larger feet than rabbits. Bugs has very long ears and large feet. > [@](#): > > Hares have very long and strong hind legs, more so than rabbits. Bugs has long hind legs. > [@](#): > > Hares have black markings on their fur. Bugs has no black markings. > [@](#): > > Rabbits’ brown summer fur is replaced with fur that is greyer. Hares, especially those living in cold, snowy regions, turn white in the winter. But he also has no brown fur. He does have white fur but it doesn’t vary with the seasons. > [@](#): > > Hares have not been domesticated, while rabbits are often kept as house pets. Bugs is definitely not domesticated. > [@](#): > > Rabbits are altricial, having young that are born blind and hairless. In contrast, hares are generally born with hair and are able to see (precocial). Young hares are therefore able to fend for themselves very quickly after birth. Bugs has always had hair, even when shown as a young rabbit in some flashbacks. And he is clearly always been able to fend for himself. > [@](#): > > All rabbits (except the cottontail rabbit) live underground in burrows or warrens, while hares live in simple nests above the ground (as does the cottontail rabbit). Rabbits also have their litters underground. Hares rely on running rather than burrowing for protection. As the OP noted, Bugs is a burrower. > [@](#): > > Rabbits are very social animals; they live in colonies… In opposite, hares live most of the time by themselves. Bugs is solitary and hardly ever seen with other rabbits/hares. > [@](#): > > Rabbits prefer soft stems, grass or vegetables; hares eat more hard food: bark and rind, buds, small twigs and shoot. Bugs loves the carrots. So overall, I’d have to say Bugs is a hare, albeit one that has adopted a few rabbit-like traits. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-bugs-bunny-was-a-hare/451242/6 "2008-05-31T06:57:49Z")
[QUOTE=mobo85] I thought this was going to be about a [different sort of proof](http://www.snopes.com/photos/risque/bugsbunny.asp). [/QUOTE] Snopes is wrong about that. Warner Brothers (and all owners of popular cartoon characters) have very strict guidelines about how their properties are drawn, and the bottom of Bugs’s white belly does not feature an inverted-U like that. Look [here](http://www.chaomancer.com/LTBattle/BugsBunny.gif) and contrast the bottom of his belly with the picture on the Snopes page. I love the Mikkelsons but they occasionally get cocky and dismissive and that’s the case this time, IMO. Brilliant cartoon, btw. Haven’t seen that since I was a kid, thanks for linking. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-bugs-bunny-was-a-hare/451242/7 "2008-05-31T07:55:13Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco] Snopes is wrong about that. Warner Brothers (and all owners of popular cartoon characters) have very strict guidelines about how their properties are drawn, and the bottom of Bugs’s white belly does not feature an inverted-U like that. Look [here](http://www.chaomancer.com/LTBattle/BugsBunny.gif) and contrast the bottom of his belly with the picture on the Snopes page. I love the Mikkelsons but they occasionally get cocky and dismissive and that’s the case this time, IMO. [/QUOTE] You’re comparing a relatively modern incarnation of Bugs with one that’s fairly old (look at Elmer Fudd’s character design). You would’ve done better to compare him with other views [from the same cartoon.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXEvZUhc_cc) You might still be right. However, if the WB animators are going to break “very strict guidelines” to _draw a penis_, what’s to keep them from breaking it by mistake and simply getting lazy about the white area? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-bugs-bunny-was-a-hare/451242/8 "2008-05-31T08:32:53Z")
Oh, I’m definitely not saying it’s his penis. My first thought was that it’s his tail, but that doesn’t quite work, either. I dunno what it is, but I think Snopes jumped to a [wrong] conclusion. Edited to add: > [@Leaper](#): > > You’re comparing a relatively modern incarnation of Bugs with one that’s fairly old (look at Elmer Fudd’s character design). You would’ve done better to compare him with other views from the same cartoon. That part hasn’t changed. I would’ve done exactly the same to compare him with other views from the same cartoon. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-bugs-bunny-was-a-hare/451242/9 "2008-05-31T12:08:53Z")
Tsk. Everybody knows he’s a _wabbit_. (Order Wagomorpha, family Weporidae.) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-bugs-bunny-was-a-hare/451242/10 "2008-05-31T14:10:19Z")
The recipe for hassenpfeffer almost always calls for _rabbit_ meat. I guess it’s because people don’t like to find hare in their food. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-bugs-bunny-was-a-hare/451242/11 "2008-05-31T14:34:06Z")
Bugs was both a rabbit _and_ a hare, depending on _what was funny_. Thus, when “hare” was a good pun (“Over 50 years and one gray hare”), he was a hare. When “rabbit” was funny (“wascally wabbit”), he was a rabbit. And when he visited the beach and amusement in south Brooklyn, he was a coney. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-bugs-bunny-was-a-hare/451242/12 "2008-05-31T15:01:43Z")
And when he wanted to plant the seeds of transvestism and/or gender identity disorder in the impressionable youths watching the cartoon, he dressed like a woman. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-bugs-bunny-was-a-hare/451242/13 "2008-05-31T16:25:03Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] Bugs is definitely not domesticated… [/QUOTE] Not domesticated?! But he sleeps in a bed! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-bugs-bunny-was-a-hare/451242/14 "2008-05-31T17:01:24Z")
This reminds me of the discussion we had a while back over whether Curious George is a monkey or an ape. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-bugs-bunny-was-a-hare/451242/15 "2008-05-31T18:48:34Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco] Oh, I’m definitely not saying it’s his penis. My first thought was that it’s his tail, but that doesn’t quite work, either. I dunno what it is, but I think Snopes jumped to a [wrong] conclusion. Edited to add: That part hasn’t changed. I would’ve done exactly the same to compare him with other views from the same cartoon. [/QUOTE] I was about to respond in defense of Snopes’ conclusion, citing model sheets, frames from the short in question, and the highly malleable character of Clampett/McKimson -inspired design versus the more rigorously defined animation style of the Jones/Freleng era. Then I realized that I was trying to frame a persuasive, compelling argument on the topic of Bugs Bunny’s wang. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-bugs-bunny-was-a-hare/451242/16 "2008-05-31T19:02:34Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] This reminds me of the discussion we had a while back over whether Curious George is a monkey or an ape. [/QUOTE] Ape. [Curious George](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curious_George) is a chimpanzee; all chimps are apes.. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-bugs-bunny-was-a-hare/451242/17 "2008-05-31T19:41:30Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] Ape. [Curious George](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curious_George) is a chimpanzee; all chimps are apes.. [/QUOTE] Well, here’s the thread I was referring to: [Who or what is Curious George?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=357942) Oddly enough, the Wikipedia article seems to have been edited since then, to remove a discussion of this very question. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-bugs-bunny-was-a-hare/451242/18 "2008-05-31T20:33:00Z")
[QUOTE=Terrifel] I was about to respond in defense of Snopes’ conclusion, citing model sheets, frames from the short in question, and the highly malleable character of Clampett/McKimson -inspired design versus the more rigorously defined animation style of the Jones/Freleng era. [/QUOTE] If you have all that information, please provide. I’m curious about it and not one bit averse to being proven wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-bugs-bunny-was-a-hare/451242/19 "2008-06-01T01:02:54Z")
[QUOTE=Terrifel] Then I realized that I was trying to frame a persuasive, compelling argument on the topic of Bugs Bunny’s wang. [/QUOTE] Is that contest Boyo Jim won still open to new submissions? Cause I think this sentence would have to win, hands down. I’m still hysterically laughing…thank you ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-bugs-bunny-was-a-hare/451242/20 "2008-06-01T03:27:27Z")
[QUOTE=Biffy the Elephant Shrew] Tsk. Everybody knows he’s a _wabbit_. (Order Wagomorpha, family Weporidae.) [/QUOTE] I waughed and waughed. I wuv you. 🆒 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-bugs-bunny-was-a-hare/451242.md?page=2)