The Arctic Hare

The Day of the Hare

I have had another first while living in the north, I have finally tracked and found Arctic Hare. After many miles away from the little town of Pangnirtung by Snowmobile and again many miles on foot I came across this guy.

Its hard to believe that this elusive creature has actually taken me three years to come across. You might be thinking to your self " how is this possible ? three years on the land and never seeing a rabbit?" Well let me tell you... these little guys are flawlessly suited to their environment. They are impeccably camouflaged and when they spot you (which they will do before you see them) They "freeze" staying perfectly still in hope that they remain unnoticed.

The hares that I came across this day surprised me, as well as opening my eyes a little to the ways of the north. When I came up on the hares they were fast asleep, purely by luck I spotted them. I crept up to them and snapped off a few shots. Then the surprising thing happened...I was spotted... as expected the hare instantly froze. As one would imagine once I got to close for the hares liking off he went in a run. Then a mere 10 feet away he went back into a freeze and stayed for what seemed to be 5 minutes, giving me a lot of time to get the shots that I desired. It was as if by running and then suddenly stopping the hare believed he would blend in a disappear with the surrounding landscape. To me that seems counter productive, by running one would think that the movement would expose you, and by stopping the predator would be able to zero in and make it's attack. I immediately thought that this must be a isolated hares defense mechanism, and that this hare would soon be a brunch for one of the many predators of the North. But over and over throughout the day I witnessed this same behavior by many other hares. This does not mean that all hares react in this way, but definitely all of the hares I have seen in that area seem to have the same behavior.  

Below the Arctic Hare snoozes as I first approached. The adrenaline I had in my system was so high I was lucky to get a shot that wasn't blurred by my shaking. 

After a Short but fast dash he stopped and gave me a chance to get the shots that i was looking for.

Eventually this guy finally had enough and off he went. stopping every 50 yards or so to freeze and then carry one with his retreat