I have looked at the commentary rabbinical scholars and it doesn't seem clear that "ma'alah gerah" should be translated "chew the cud" as can be seen here:
http://www.aishdas.org/toratemet/en_pamphlet2.html I also think the linguistic solution fits nicely with Professor Yedulah Felix of the Israeli Bar-Ilan University commentary:
"In our generation we have learned that the local hares of the genus called lepus are accustomed to eating a large amount of greens each morning. These are only partially digested and the remants are excreted in the form of balls on a flat open surface and later the hare returns to chew them, after these greens have undergone a process of chemical breakdown caused by bacteria." (see:
— — ’ ’ | ’’‘ -’ ).
™ Version 4.2