discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 11Snow
hare
spotting
It takes a beady pair of
eyes to track down this
moorland mammal
I
n summer you might be forgiven for
confusing mountain hares with the more
widespread and common brown hare,
but in winter the former dons a luxuriant
white pelt to blend in with the snowy
uplands they call home. It makes them
rather tricky to spot, especially as they tend
to take shelter in scrapes during the day. The
determined ‘snow hare’ spotter will look out
for their tracks, or runs directly up mountain
slopes (rather than across, like those
belonging to sheep and deer).
Mountain hares are indigenous to the
British Isles, unlike the introduced brown
hare and rabbit. Nowadays they are found in
the Scottish Highlands, Southern Uplands,
some Scottish islands, and the Peak District.
If you struggle to lay your eyes on one in
winter (or just don’t fancy braving the frozen
moorlands), wait until early spring when the
snow will have melted but they will still be
sporting their now-conspicuous white coat
and stick out like a sore thumb.Ben Hall has been taking photographs
of hares in his local patch on the Peak
District for the past two decades, but
this day stands out for him. “It had been
a particularly harsh winter, with plenty
of snow on the ground” he says. After
spotting a hare hunkered
down in a snow bank,
he knew he had to
act quickly.
“It was a stroke
of luck when
the hare
hopped out
into the open,
enabling me to
frame it against
the stunning
winter sky.”“A stroke of luck”
MEET THE PHOTOGRAPHER
BE
N^
HA
LL