Raising Hare

Shortly after bringing the leveret home, Chloe learns from a wildlife expert that she cannot expect to form a close bond with the creature because hares have never been domesticated. Dogs, cats, and even rabbits have been domesticated and as such are inured to living among humans. Domestication is a gradual, multi-generational process through which humans have developed mutually beneficial relationships with animals, insects, and plants. Domestication impacts an animal’s genetic makeup, with each successive generation selecting for traits that allow the animal to live more harmoniously with humans. Animals, for example, that display less fear or aggression around humans receive more food from them. Because the offspring of the fearless animals do better than those who avoid humans, the new generation contains more animals who are less fearful than it does fearful animals.

One of the most thoroughly researched examples of domestication is the dog. The ancestors of today’s dogs, closer as a species to wolves, began the domestication process at least 15,000 years ago. These animals, drawn to human settlements by the promise of bones and other food scraps, began to lose their innate mistrust of humans. As humans fed the creatures, an increasing number allowed themselves to live near human settlements.