Harebear

These terrifying magical creations gone awry are cousins to the equally terrifying owlbear. After escaping or being released into the wild, the harebears formed colonies and perfected their deadly jumping ambushes. They now stalk the fields and plains, appearing out of seemingly nowhere with great speed.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Harebears have the body of a bear with the legs and head of a hare. They have the claws of a bear on the fore legs and sharp hare nails on their hind legs. They have muscular hind legs perfect for standing to scare off others and for powerful, ambushing jumps.

Genetics and Reproduction

True to their leporine origins, they may reproduce quickly, though the brood quantity is few. True to their ursine nature, the male harebears leave their young and do not stay to help rear past puberty. This helps keep the numbers low.

Growth Rate & Stages

Leverets are the size of a human baby. They grow to the size of a medium-sized dog around 8 months. The teenager harebears are the size of dire wolves in just over a year's time. Full adults after 2 years are the normal size of 8 to 10 feet, similar to owlbears.

Ecology and Habitats

Harebears prefer the open plains to roam and hunt. They make burrows or find copses to rear young and live.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Harebears are omnivores. If they stumble upon a patch of vegetables, or most likely farms, they eat all they can. The unfortunate thing is they will also eat the farmer or gardener should they come out to scare or threaten them away.
As for meat, while mortals are not unheard of, they prefer easier prey such as cattle and deer which they use their superior legs to pounce in ambush.

Biological Cycle

Seasons except winter don't affect the harebears. Their mating season is typically late spring to early summer and late summer to early autumn. They prefer to hibernate during the cold months, burrowing or finding caves to spend the winter.

Behaviour

These are feral, wild animals. They cannot be domesticated or trained, and the rare times they are trained, they turn on their handlers without fail.
The males tend to be aloof, showing up to contest boundaries or mate. Females are defensive and extremely protective of young, even remembering those who wronged her leverets for years. It isn't uncommon for adventurers to accidently kill or cause the death of a young leveret to be stalked by the mother on their way back. This is due to their keen sense of smell.

Additional Information

Uses, Products & Exploitation

A special oil gland around the anus secretes a very valuable ingredient used in some perfumes and cosmetics. Their meat is plenty and their fur is used as decoration.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

The harebears have extraordinary smell and hearing.
A harebear can identify a creature from a mile away based on scent alone.
Their extraordinary hearing allows them to never be taken by surprise when sleeping. They can identify the number of creatures within half a mile by focusing their hearing on a particular rhythm or set of sounds.

Harebear elder, approx. 9 years old

Harebear mother with young (leverets)

Origin/Ancestry

Magical

Lifespan

10 years

Average Height

4 to 5 feet

Average Weight

500 to 700 pounds

Average Length

4 to 5 feet