I am excited to share some photos this week of an animal I have been hoping to shoot for years: the arctic hare. I was caught off guard by this beauty while taking a walk with my son shortly after arriving in Ulukhaktok, NT. We were out exploring the icebergs and flowers along the arctic coast of Jack’s Bay, one of three bays surrounding the hamlet.
As we were climbing back to town over what is known as the three hills, I spotted this beautiful hare snacking on some woolly lousewort (it’s a plant). I didn’t have my camera with me at that time, only a pair of binoculars. We spent a few minutes watching her nibble at the new growth and then made our way back to the hotel.
Later that evening I went back, camera in hand and tried to get close to her but she was having none of it! I sat and watched her and took a few photos before leaving her to her evening meal.
A couple of days later I was back in Jack’s bay and there she was again. This time she seemed to recognize me and let me approach her as she worked at pulling out the last of her winter coat. I have never heard of hare eating their own fur so I was quite surprised to see her licking at her coat to pull out the hair and then eat it. I’m not sure what the purpose of that might be.
I did a little reading about hares after my experience and was delighted to learn that arctic hares keep their white tail in the summer, a handy tip for the next time we travel north.
Some other interesting facts I learned are that arctic hares have their own sunglasses — black eyelashes that shield their eyes from the glare of the sun on the snow and ice; and that they can run up to 60 kph!
She is much much larger than the snowshoe hares we have in and around Yellowknife and I was so happy to get a chance to see and photograph this beautiful creature.