Field Guide
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Mountain Hare
Lepus timidus
Not yet photographed by the community
Native hare that turns white in winter; Scottish uplands.
Species Profile
Least Concern (IUCN); common in Scottish range but range has contracted historically in UK
- Lifespan
- 5–6 years in the wild, up to 9 years in captivity
- Size & Weight
- 45–60 cm body length; 1.5–3.5 kg
- Habitat
- Open moorland, grassland, and heathland in upland areas with sparse vegetation.
- UK Distribution
- Resident in the Scottish Highlands, Cairngorms, and parts of the Pennines; absent from most of lowland Britain and Ireland.
- Diet
- Herbivorous; grazes on grasses, heather, clover, and bilberry; browses shrubs and young trees, especially in winter.
- Predators
- Golden eagles, white-tailed eagles, red foxes, wildcats, and pine martens; stoats and corvids prey on leverets.
- Mating Season
- February to August, with peak activity March to May
- Breeding
- 2–4 leverets per litter; females typically have 2–3 litters annually; gestation period approximately 50 days; leverets weaned at 3–4 weeks.
- Behaviour
- Solitary and primarily nocturnal and crepuscular; forms temporary groups in winter. Males ('bucks') engage in boxing behaviour during rut. Relies on speed and zigzag running to escape predators, reaching up to 60 km/h.
- •Mountain hares turn white in winter in Scotland and other northern populations—a seasonal camouflage adaptation called ptarmigan-type colouration.
- •They are the only hare species native to the UK that occupies high-altitude terrain.
- •Males can be heard making loud vocalizations during the breeding season, including a distinctive squealing call.
- •They create shallow depressions called 'forms' in vegetation where they rest and are remarkably difficult to spot.
- •Mountain hares are key prey for reintroduced sea eagles in Scotland, supporting the conservation of that species.
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