Varying Hare 



foxes have been seen to do, one of them lying in ambush beside 

 the path followed by the hares in order to seize any that may 

 pass that way in their endeavours to escape from the other foxes 

 which are driving them from their cover. The henhawks and 

 goshawks, the great gray owl and the horned and snow owls 

 as well as the eagles either pounce upon them unawares from 

 the evergreens, or pursue them at full speed through the under- 

 brush, while in fall and winter men hunt them with dogs and 

 catch them with various kinds of traps and snares. 



Although in the summer and early fall the dense undergrowth 

 of the forest assists the hares in their constant endeavours at con- 

 cealment, in the cold weather the leaves, with very few excep- 

 tions, either fall or, shrivelled to a fraction of their former dimensions 

 hang listless upon their stalks, allowing the eye to penetrate where 

 before everything was hidden, and, as if this were not enough, 

 the snow comes to flatten the ferns and grasses and lay on a 

 background of white against which all objects are conspicuous. 



The Northern hare, however, like the ermine, has this advantage 

 over the other wood dwellers in that at the approach of winter its 

 fur, which from March to November is cinnamon or reddish brown 

 of a shade best suited to match its accustomed surroundings, becomes 

 in the course of a few weeks or even less perfectly white, and although 

 for a time the brown fur still shows in spots, the general effect 

 is such that of those that I have seen on the snow I should say 

 that at least one half appeared actually whiter than the snow over 

 which they ran, and this similarity of colouring with their surround- 

 ings makes it possible for them to crouch in safety practically 

 invisible to human eyes, and undoubtedly often baffling the keener 

 glances of the hawks. 



Much has been written on the change of colour of the varying 

 hare and other mammals and birds, but there are few subjects 

 concerning which more mistakes have been made. We read of the 

 change taking place in a single night, coincident with the first fall of 

 snow and of the actual blanching of the the individual hairs; one 

 statement being quite as erroneous as the other. The change is really 

 very simple. All mammals, in northern climes at least, shed their coat 

 twice a year, acquiring a thicker fur in winter and a thinner one in 

 summer, and in the present species the winter coat is white while 

 the summer one is brown and the individual hairs never alter their 

 colour from the time they appear until they fall out. The change 



