springhare, noun

/ˈsprɪŋhɛə/
Plurals:
springhares; occasionally unchanged.
Origin:
South African Dutch, AfrikaansShow more Calque formed on South African Dutch (later Afrikaans) springhaas.
springhaas. Also attributive.
1822 W.J. Burchell Trav. I. 343Besides the holes of the aardvark, those of the Springhaas (Springhare),..were very frequent.
1889 F. Galton Trav. in S. Afr. 172A pleasant moonlight evening was spent on much smaller game — the spring hare as the Dutch call it. It is a creature about two feet long, shaped like a kangaroo in body and tail, but very different head; it burrows and lives in a hole all day, but at night frisks about and grazes.
1899 Standard & Diggers’ News 16 Sept. 4A farmer, near Riverton, was out spring-hare shooting on Wednesday night, with a friend.
1911 Farmer’s Weekly 4 Oct. 120The spring hare always jump sideways towards the light with the result that only one eye is visible.
1920 R.Y. Stormberg Mrs Pieter de Bruyn 71Springhares are causing some trouble. They break into the garden and lands at night and cause ruinous havoc.
1923 S. Afr.: Land of Outdoor Life (S.A.R. & H.) 268Springhares are numerous, but as they are nocturnal animals it is only possible to shoot them at night time with the aid of an ordinary bull’s-eye lantern or acetylene lamp.
1926 L.D. Flemming Fun on Veld (1928) 251A ‘spring hare’ is a small hopping animal not unlike a miniature kangaroo, which does a lot of damage to crops.
1940 V. Pohl Bushveld Adventures 34Scores of spring hares, at the mercy of natives and dogs, scampered from their burrows as the water overflowed the river banks till a vast sea was formed on either side of the main stream.
1951 A. Roberts Mammals 349Spring Hares..are rodents belonging to an ancient group, distantly related to the Cave Rats on the one hand and the Dassie Rats on the other.
1964 N. Gordimer in C. Millar 16 Stories 83Small glowing points jumped about; it looked as if..someone was throwing cigarette butts away in the dark...They were the eyes of spring-hares, who had a big warren just there.
1990 C. Laffeaty Far Forbidden Plains 145Monotony sometimes relieved by a springhare leaping in the air in front of their path as it dashed to safety.
1991 K. Urquhart in Weekend Post 16 Mar. (Leisure) 1If luck was on their side they would see about 20 different nocturnal animals..including bushpig, Cape and spring hares, porcupine, antbear, [etc.].
springhaas. Also attributive.
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Afrikaans
springhaas, nounn.sprinkaan, nounn.
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