White/Partly white Hares winter 2010/11 (was- Unusual pair of hares)

Durnish

Darwin doesn't work that quick.

recedite

Eh ... I'm not saying these are a newly evolved species; they have been living here in Ireland longer than us. Their Mountain Hare ancestors were probably even better at changing colour.

thyme

I think this one is trying to tell us something.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

recedite wrote: »

Just because some book says Irish Hares don't change colour, does not mean that its always true.

I'm not qouting some book. Anyway, no point discussing this any further because you obviously are not taking in what was said. That's fine by me.

recedite

Ahh come on, don't get into a sulk.

Tzetze

From the Mountain Hare wiki entry (linked to in post #14).

The subspecies Lepus timidus hibernicus (the Irish Mountain Hare) stays brown all year and individuals rarely develop a white coat.

It would seem that the conditions that trigger the change, as recently experienced, are rare.

mayotom

I have just seen a White hare, here in Swinford, Co Mayo. It was also accompanied by two other normal hare's however both had large white patches on the underside and their rear area.

snowstreams

Seems there is a white hare survey being carried out.
http://www.irishhare.org/whiteharesurvey.html
They have a few photos and appreciate any photos or reports people have.
They do say that they are rare but I wonder have they seen an increase in white hare sightings this year?

Alun

I saw one again a couple of weeks ago, not a million miles away from where I saw one 2 years ago. We were stopped having lunch and it appeared on top of a rocky outcrop only about 10m away. Didn't stay long enough to be photographed though unfortunately.

Sent off a sighting to the email address given above.

mayotom

snowstreams wrote: »

Seems there is a white hare survey being carried out.
http://www.irishhare.org/whiteharesurvey.html
They have a few photos and appreciate any photos or reports people have.
They do say that they are rare but I wonder have they seen an increase in white hare sightings this year?

I was in contact with them today and he says that they are very rare, they have only had 10 sightings this winter, including my one from this morning.

I saw the same one a few minutes ago, but the photos I got are very poor, cause the zoom is not working correctly on my camera

JockeyJo

Hi all, while out Lamping foxes last night (lambing season is in and farmers in the area ask us to keep an eye on heards), some people may not agree with this, but its where i was when the following happened, while scanning an area of a large field, the light lit upon a white Hare standing tall on the grassland, this was an all white hare, not too far from a field beside the yellow river near the Offaly/Meath border. I couldnt believe my luck, i left the light on for a few seconds as i couldnt beleive my eyes, the hare, then quickly took to running in the opposite direction, with another brown/gold color hare for company. Only for my mate was with me and saw the same, i dont think too many would have beleived me. Hares in the area are in abundance, which is great to see.

Regards

snowstreams

Looks like you saw one of these white hares that are being seen this year.

Mothman

Twice an older thread was added too rather than the current one, so I've merged the 2
A win win....

snowstreams

They were talking about white irish hares on 'Mooney goes wild' on rte radio one there today.
They had a guy on from the white irish hare survey.
He said that they have had far more reports of white irish hares this year than normal.
They seemed to think that the cold weather in December has had an effect on them.

rainyrun

my mum has just told me she saw a completely white hare on wednesday!! she lives in leitrim!!

alanmcqueen

I saw a White Hare in Jan during cold snap. Very strange sight. I got out of the car and tracked him for a bit. He had few very small patches of brown but otherwise white as a sheet. Great to see |I have to say. Glad I found this thread!:D

MayoForSam

I saw a white hare with a brown head the other day in NE Co. Galway, the cold weather we had in December has definitely had an effect I would say - it was a lot colder and snowier around here even compared to the previous winter.

I sent a report into the White Hare survey web-site, there seems to be a lot of sightings from around the country, especially in areas that got the coldest weather from what I can see (north of a line from Galway to Dublin).

Dusty87

Bit about them on Wild about Ulster the other night. Didnt hear much of it but it might be on itv player

Durnish

there was an article about the Irish hare in yesterday's Michael Viney column in the Irish Times. A discussion on the "white" sightings.

Alun

Durnish wrote: »

there was an article about the Irish hare in yesterday's Michael Viney column in the Irish Times. A discussion on the "white" sightings.

Here's a link .. don't know how long it will last though ...

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0326/1224293107170.html

leopardus

Came across this: A (mostly) white Hare captured for coursing, in the previous year the coat had remained brown.

Warning: The website depicts hare coursing.
http://yvonneharrington.blogspot.com/2011/03/hare-release.html

Eddie B

Alun wrote: »

Here's a link .. don't know how long it will last though ...

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0326/1224293107170.html

The article say's that their was a lot of sightings in the midlands!
Well i have to say the rare white hare wasn't so rare in my area!
I saw two pure white hare's, plus several almost white hare's over the winter months!

Tarsna

Tony Square Number wrote: »

The Irish Hare (Lepus timidus hibernicus) does not change colour in response to seasonal or weather changes. So, the recent snow has nothing to do with it. There are variations in markings certainly but these are visable all year round irrespective of weather. They may camoflage well but by no means can you say the Irish Hare has Chameleon qualities when it cannot consiously change it's colour to suit it's surroundings.

This year.........and its been a cold one that started early on. Theres been a huge rise in the number of "white" hares" or partly white

If you read this story you will find that this particular hare was indeed normal the year before but turned 3/4 white this year

Warning: The website depicts hare coursing
http://yvonneharrington.blogspot.com/2011/03/hare-release.html

I can think of no other reason than the cold weather and the fact that the Irish hare is indeed related to the mountain hare

Mothman

Mod note
2 of the last 3 posts link to a hare coursing blog. They were deleted, but on reflection have been reinstated because they apparently show a hare which is mainly white this winter and was brown the previous winter.

Hare coursing itself is not open for discussion.

Edit, I've edited the thread title, it'll make it easier for searches to find white Hare.

homerhop

Out walking last thursday with a friend and noticed a hare darting out of some beech sapplings, a few seconds later something white on the same trail as the hare caught my eye. I thought at first it was a cat chasing the following the hare till it fully emerged as a whiteish hare.

chinacup

Big fluffy white thing couldn't tell you if it was a rabbit or a hare because I don't know the difference! But as I was coming home at around 12 at night on Thurs there was one hopping around the green and as I stopped to film it, it came hopping towards me! I don't know if it was trying to scare me off or was being friendly but even when I crouched down after it came right up to me! I don't know if it was a lost pet, it did seem quite clean. However a friend told me that a couple of years ago before the shopping centre went up in the area (rahoon, Galway) there were lots of rabbits so maybe there's still a few about! It was fully white, didn't notice any patches of brown! Sorry to drag up a thread but I didn't see any other recent ones. If someone could help confirm if it was a pet or in fact a wild that would be great!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Big white and fluffy combined with it coming towards you certainly suggests this was a pet rabbit.

chinacup

Tony Square Number wrote: »

Big white and fluffy combined with it coming towards you certainly suggests this was a pet rabbit.

Oh dear probably should have taken it in! Poor thing seemed very confused and terrified when a car went by, launching into this weird seizure like hop-running!