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Winter woollies

The secret to finding mountain hares is to know that what they really like is to hunker down with their backs to the wind somewhere sheltered where they鈥檝e got a nice, wide open view and maybe a little bit of heather around them if they fancy a nibble. The one that Bill spots is of course in its white winter fur coat. They are one of three British creatures that turn white in winter. The others are the ptarmigan and the stoat. The hare leaps off at high speed, from totally static to incredibly fast. And of course the reason that mountain hares can scamper across the snow without sinking the way Bill Oddie does is not only that they are a bit lighter, but they鈥檝e also got these natural snowshoes. The ptarmigan has feathered snowshoes and mountain hares have lovely furry snowshoes. They鈥檙e very, very agile, so anything trying to nab them has got a bit of a chase on their hands. But then again, what would fancy a meal of mountain hare?

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