MOULTS AND PELAGES IN THE BROWN HARE LEPUS EUROPAEUS OCCIDENTALS DE WINTON

• Published in: Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London
• Main Author: HEWSON, RAYMOND
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1963
• Subjects: Lepus timidus; mountain hare
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1963.tb01622.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1469-7998.1963.tb01622.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1963.tb01622.x; https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1963.tb01622.x

A collection of skins of the brown hare, obtained in Banffshire, Scotland, was examined in order to determine the number and duration of the annual moults, and to compare these with the moults of the mountain hare Lepus timidus scoticus. It was found that the adult brown hare moults twice annually, and that moulting in brown and mountain hares may vary with age and sex. The influence of day length, temperature, and endocrine glands is considered.