Granddad’s Camera
Mountain hare, as it appears in the game

No.075 · Mammals · Uncommon

Mountain hare

Lepus timidus

Britain's only native hare, a compact, short-eared animal of the Highland heather that turns white in winter.

When to look

All year, mostly at dawn and dusk.

Time of day

Best time
Dawn and dusk, all year; the white winter coat is best seen on snowy days from about December to March.
Where in the game
the Cairngorms (moorland and mountain)
Size
Head and body 45–55 cm in Scotland
Weight
2.5–3.5 kg
Lifespan
Average 3–4 years in the wild; up to 12
Population
About 135,000 in Great Britain (95% range 81,000–526,000; Mammal Society, 2018): a rough estimate, and the trend is unknown. Numbers rise and fall at least ten-fold, peaking about every ten years
Status
Near Threatened (Great Britain, Mammal Society Red List)

Diet

Heather, sedges, rushes and grasses, especially in summer; sometimes browses dwarf shrubs and young trees.

Habitat

Heather moorland and high ground above the tree line; often around 400–900 m.

Breeding

Mating from late January; 1–4 litters a year of 1–3 leverets, mostly born March–July. Leverets are born fully furred, with eyes open, and their mother visits only in the evening to suckle them

Field signs

  • Small pellet droppings on heather and rocks
  • Forms (shallow scrapes) among boulders
  • Prints with long back feet in snow
  • Groups of white-coated hares in winter, visible from a distance

Did you know?

  • A mountain hare is brown in summer and white in winter, but the change depends on temperature, so not every hare turns completely white (Mammal Society).
  • When snow lies, mountain hares gather in groups of 20 or more on sheltered slopes to feed where the snow is shallow (Mammal Society).
  • With climate change, snowfall is decreasing, so the white winter coat is becoming more of a hindrance (Mammal Society).

Moments worth waiting for

  • Winter white coat December to March, dawn, day and dusk
    A mountain hare in full white winter fur sits among the heather stems, only the black ear tips giving it away.

Photo tip

Photograph from a distance with a long lens from downwind. Get low, and expose for the white coat so it does not burn out against the snow.

Be a good naturalist

Mountain hares are protected in Scotland; never chase or flush a hare, and back away at once if it looks nervous. Don't approach leverets, which are left alone by day.

The law

Protected in Scotland since 1 March 2021 under the Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Act 2020: it is illegal to intentionally kill, injure or take a mountain hare at any time without a licence from NatureScot, granted only in limited circumstances. Listed on Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981

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