Mountain hare

The mountain hare is the hare that is the most original hare in Northern Europe, however, it is not the most common. Most common is the European hare (Lepus europeaeus) which was introduced in Sweden as early as in 1858.

The mountain hare and the European hare may appear quite similar at first glance. However, there are some rather distinct differences in their appearance. For instance, the tail of the mountain hare is much lighter than that of the European hare which has a black upper side to it. Moreover, the face of the mountain hare is more rabbit-like than that of the European hare.

The diet of the mountain hare mostly consists of grass and herbs during summer and brushwood during fall. In the winter it is confined to eating twigs and bark. It usually eats ½ kilograms of food throughout the 24 hours and produces around 400 pellets of dropping. Fox and lynx are common enemies to the mountain hare as well as some birds of prey such as Eurasian eagle-owl and common buzzard.

In Swedish folklore, people spoke of spellbound hares which no hunter could bring down. If a hunter shot at a spellbound hare, either the hunter would constantly miss the target or the bullets would simply bounce off the hare.