UKC

Anyone else noticed that the hills are alive with them this winter? Quite nice to see them hopping about, saw about ten in the space of two minutes yesterday.

I've squashed two with my car, sadly, as they don't seem to have much road sense.

Bleaklow seemed to have plenty on friday. I saw 6 in a few mins, excluding 4 dead ones. not roadkill these, i suspect murder.

Spotted some Glenshee last week

I regularly visit Bleaklow for mountain hare photography, I last counted at least 20 in a single patch.  If the snow has melted and they are still in winter coat then they are easily spotted. If the wind is from the north and it’s sunny they will all be out sunbathing on the facing edges of the grough’s as you walk up to Bleaklow Head.

At the moment the hares all seem to be pairing up, with a little bit of boxing going on. Hopefully we will see more of this behaviour as the temperatures rise towards Spring.

Wouldn't be at all surprising if you're right sadly.

There was a fair sized roadkill hare at the side of the Snake road yesterday, and then a grouse on the way home again.  Neither was squashed, I'd have stopped and picked them up if I was a bit more carnivorous.  I hope somebody else did, and is now looking forward to a really nice roadkill pie!

Was very pleased to have my first close encounter with one last weekend - only a few feet away but hopped off before could battle through my gloves to get a photo, spent a while watching him bob about. Normally can just about make something out in the distance that might or might not have been one!

Does anyone know if there are mountain hares in the Lakes?
I came across some tracks in the snow a few winters back which i thought could only be hares. This was in the snowbowl above lambfoot dub, but that whole area behind round howe as far as broad crag looks like prime habitat

I believe that the Peak District is the only place in England to have a mountain hare population. Could have been brown hare tracks which you saw.

Those were my thoughts.  I dont know if you know the area but it's an kind of high, open coombe, 'rarely' visited by walkers, at an altitude of approx 770m. Saying that, whilst it's a relatively large area of it's kind for the Lakes, i doubt if it's large enough to support a mountain hare population.

I'll revise my question then, 'does anyone have any evidence of brown hares at that altitude in the Lakes in winter?'

There was a woman that used to walk a large pet rabbit in that area of the lakes on a lead.

I think there have been failed attempts at introducing them to the Lake District, but I don't have details.

I'm aware that, in Snowdonia, about a century or more ago, they were also failed introductions of them, by the Penrhyn Estate, onto the Carneddau. 

Thanks for the useful reply.
I gave it a quick google and came up with an article about mountain hares in northumberland. It seems that they can still be found on the cheviot, so maybe we need to think again about the perception of 'only in the Peak'.

http://www.nhsn.ncl.ac.uk/interests/mammals/mammals-north-east/mountain-har...

Also, confirmation of failed attempts at introduction..

''In England and Wales it is known to have been introduced in the Peak District, Snowdonia, the Lake District and the Cheviots, though other than the Peak District all of the introductions are supposed to have died out (Hewson and Yalden, 1995).''

So it seems unlikely that they survived in the Lakes, but no-one knows for sure.

There has definitely been a rise in population if my rather unscientific 'I have seen loads more than normal' assessment can be relied upon. I have also noticed way more voles and mice than in previous years - Warmer winters?

Unfortunately, a lot of the estates up here are perturbed by the numbers and insist on culling them.....

https://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/news/trust-joins-call-temporary-ban-mo...

Re : Mountain Hare outside of the Peak.

There is a pile of culled ones on the moor North of the Colne - Haworth road, just 8 miles South of Skipton / Yorkshire Dales. I suspect management is the main reason you never see a live one up there.

They are culled by grouse estates on the grounds they harbour the same virius (via a species of tick), that can kill grouse.

Re Billhook's comment about grouse moor related culling there is more on Mark Avery's website - see here https://markavery.info/2016/03/20/balmoral-challenged-mountain-hare-cull/ 

There are lots of Brown Hares in the Brecon Beacons, they are very inquisitive in the dark, they follow you and your head torch picks up their eyes. I think there has been a big surge in night time fox hunting by small unofficial groups using rifles, and they are killing Foxes in large numbers. I wonder if the Brown Hare population has risen due to they're main predator numbers being reduced?

Jason

Grouse estates are known to engage in mass slaughter of mountain hares, as a quick internet search will reveal.

[edit] or even a complete reading of this thread, captain...