With Christmas on the snowy horizon we turn to the
infamous festive fashion to get us in merry mood. We all know someone with the
classic festive jumper, decorated with an array of Christmas trees, reindeer
and snowmen. The woolly hats and knitted scarves are pulled from the back of
the closet to brave the winter weather. We are not however the only species
grabbing a new coat for Christmas, the mountain hare Lepus timidus also trades
in its summer get up for a fashion more suited for a more snowy setting. During
the transition of summer to winter the mountain hare moults its previous typical
brown coat for a crisp white one. This transformation is a defense mechanism in
order to evade predation by blending into the vast white blanket of snow covering
their environment. Though walking around any shopping center or even my house
in a Christmas jumper this time of year you pretty much become invisible, but
it seems it’s not just us getting in the seasonal spirit.
