Whereas the brown hare is a lowland species that likes cultivated land, the smaller, greyer mountain hare is an animal of the wilder, northern, more mountainous regions. The mountain, blue or variable hare owes its last name to the fact that it changes colour in winter, when it grows a white coat, which is excellent camouflage among snowy surroundings. The hare shown here is in full winter coat, completely white save for the black tips of its ears. The Irish hare is a subspecies of Lepus timidus that does not turn white in winter. |