L île aux Lièvres (''English: Hare Island'') is a

river island River Island (stylised as RiverIsland and abbreviated as RI) is a London-based, multi-channel fashion brand, founded in 1948 by Bernard Lewis (entrepreneur), Bernard Lewis. The retailer has a presence in over 125 of worldwide markets, in stores ...

of the

Richelieu River The Richelieu River () is a river of Quebec, Canada, and a major right-bank tributary of the St. Lawrence River. It rises at Lake Champlain, from which it flows northward through Quebec and empties into the St. Lawrence. It was formerly kno ...

, in the territory of the municipality of

Carignan Carignan (; also known as Mazuelo, Bovale Grande, Cariñena, Carinyena, Samsó, Carignane, and Carignano) is a red grape variety of Spanish origin that is more commonly found in French wine but is widely planted throughout the western Medite ...

, in the

La Vallée-du-Richelieu Regional County Municipality La Vallée-du-Richelieu (, ''The Valley of the Richelieu'') is a regional county municipality in the Montérégie region in southwestern Quebec, Canada. Its seat is McMasterville. It surrounds the Richelieu River as the river flows north from ...

, in the region administrative

Montérégie Montérégie () is an administrative region in the southwest part of Quebec. It includes the cities of Boucherville, Brossard, Châteauguay, Longueuil, Saint-Hyacinthe, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and Vaudreuil-Dorion. ...

, in the south of

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. This island includes the municipal park of the northern tip of Île aux Lièvres, the Seigneurie park and the Chenaux park.

Geography

Île aux Lièvres is bounded by the east bank of the Acadia River; the northeast channel separating it from Goyer Island; the east channel separating it from Hay Island and

Demers Island The Demers Island is a river island of the Richelieu River. It is located in the territory of the municipality of Carignan, in the La Vallée-du-Richelieu Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of Montérégie, in the south o ...

(which are located on the west shore of the

Bassin-de-Chambly The Chambly Basin (, ) is a shallow, oblong body of water formed by an enlargement of the Richelieu River, extending out from the foot of the rapids on the river between Chambly and Richelieu, in the Quebec region of Montérégie. The towns of ...

); and a small channel separating it with a point of land from the town of Chambly where a golf course is laid out. This island is the second largest of the four islands separating the

and the Acadia River. The other islands are Goyer Island,

and Île au Foin. A pedestrian bridge connects Goyer Island and Île aux Lièvres. Stretched in a north–south direction, Île aux Lièvres resembles the front of a horse whose head looks towards the Chambly basin. This island is approximately in length over a maximum width of . The southern and northwestern part of the island turns out to be a residential area. The party is a municipal wooded park with walking trails and a bike path. This park was established in May 2017, when the city of Carignan acquired this land from the company Le Développement de la Seigneurie des Îles inc. This park has a bicycle and pedestrian link connecting Île Goyer and Île aux Lièvres. This forest ecosystem makes it possible to observe the flora and fauna. It is particularly frequented by bird watchers. Île aux Lièvres is accessible via rue Olivier Morel (north side) and rue Jean de Roqueray (south side). Île aux Lièvres does not have an access bridge to the route 223 which runs along the west bank of the Acadie and Richelieu rivers.Atlas of Canada from the Department of Natural Resources Canada - Characteristics extracted from the geographic map, the database and the instrumentation of the site - accessed May 21, 2020.
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Toponymy

Formerly, the

snowshoe hare The snowshoe hare (''Lepus americanus''), also called the varying hare or snowshoe rabbit, is a species of hare found in North America. It has the name "snowshoe" because of the large size of its hind feet. The animal's feet prevent it from sink ...

was widespread in the Richelieu valley notably by its capacity of reproduction and its capacity to survive the harsh winters. The woods of the island proved to be a certain refuge from its natural predators. Given the proximity of the town of Chambly, some residents used to come to Île aux Lièvres to trap the hare using snares or gun hunting.Toponymic itinerary of Vallée-du -Richelieu, 1984. The toponym "Île aux Lièvres" was formalized on August 17, 1978 at the Place Names Bank of the

Commission de toponymie du Québec The Commission de toponymie du Québec (, ''Toponymy Commission of Québec'') is the Government of Québec's public body responsible for cataloging, preserving, making official and publicizing Québec's place names and their origins according to th ...

.Site de la Commission de toponymie du Québec - Bank of Place Names - Toponym "Île aux Lièvres".
/ref>

Notes and references

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lièvres, Île aux River islands of Quebec La Vallée-du-Richelieu Regional County Municipality

Geography

Toponymy

Notes and references

See also

External links