“The most glorious distinction of the Irish hare . . . is the beauty of its coat, especially in summer. It is never the smokey blue of the mountain hare and seldom so dark a brown as the common hare. It has a preponderance of yellowy-orange, a rusty look, rich as a fox, not glossy but reflective of many shades of light. Pale yellow individuals are not uncommon, and dark ones – so dark that two of our informants called them black – are sometimes seen, but rarely. Ears and tail are longer than the mountain hare’s but the same shape – the ears somewhat rounded or even squarish at the tips, the tail fluffy and entirely white both in summer and winter. The furry soles of the feet are brownish.”
– Excerpted from The Leaping Hare by George Ewart Evans and David Thomson.
Image: NatureHug.com.
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