Weights and growth rates in the Mountain hare Lepus timidus scoticus
Mountain hares were weighed during live trapping on a study area near Dufftown, Banffshire, from June 1958 to August 1966. Hares shot or killed by other means on the study area and elsewhere were also weighed. Females were heavier than males throughout the year and this difference became apparent in...
| Published in: | Journal of Zoology |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
1968
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1968.tb01662.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1469-7998.1968.tb01662.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1968.tb01662.x https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1968.tb01662.x |
| Summary: | Mountain hares were weighed during live trapping on a study area near Dufftown, Banffshire, from June 1958 to August 1966. Hares shot or killed by other means on the study area and elsewhere were also weighed. Females were heavier than males throughout the year and this difference became apparent in juveniles by August of their year of birth. Male hares lost weight during the breeding season (January to June) but regained it in late summer. Young hares gained weight initially at about 14 g per day, then at about 6 g per day to adult weight. Small juveniles, or those born late in the season, tended to become small adults, large or early juveniles to become large adults. Small hares moulted less completely andjbegan to breed later in the season than large hares. The effects of disease, starvation, severe weather and injury on hare weights were considered. Female weights were greater when the population was small, due to more late pregnancies or more embryos per female. Weight could not be used to distinguish between adult and juvenile hares above 2.1 kg, nor between young and older adults. |
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