tailieunhanh - bbc wildlife magazine 2010 phần 2

động vật hoang dã BBC Magazine là điều cần thiết đọc cho bất cứ ai có một niềm đam mê cho động vật hoang dã, những người muốn hiểu, kinh nghiệm và tận hưởng thiên nhiên hơnnhững người muốn hiểu, kinh nghiệm và tận hưởng thiên nhiên hơn. | HIGHLIGHTS NOVEMBER S MUST-SEE Mountain hare AS TEMPERATURES drop and days shorten mountain hares Lepus timidus usually begin to moult their long grey-brown summer fur replacing it with a white winter coat. But this change of clothes doesn t happen everywhere in the British Isles. In the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland hares often spend the winter in a blue-grey pelt or are brown with white bellies and feet. In Scotland they are prone to blanching even further especially where snow lies longest though even there many individuals retain parts of their summer coats through the coldest periods. In the English Peak Distriơ where the hares are introduced the thriving populations contain many winter-white animals though most are smudged with brown. A pure white hare bounding off through brown heather is hardly inconspicuous and in snowless winters such animals are targets for foxes and birds of prey. In Scotland you ll find them on mountains and heather moorlands but in the Irish Republic they occur all the way down to sea level. On hills they live in forms - depressions dug into the ground that provide shelter in rough weather especially on the leeward slopes. It is not unusual to come across several hares together at this time of year feeding among heather clumps where they nibble shoots of common heather with sharp incisors. BRETT S SIX MOUNTAIN HARE HOTSPOTS Mountain hares are confined to the uplands of Scotland and central England but are more widespread in Ireland. However the Irish subspecies is in decline -numbers have dropped by a quarter in recent years. 1 Cairngorms NP 2 Atholl Hills 3 Perthshire Hills near Crieff 4 The Cairnwell near Braemar 5 Ben More Isle of Mull 6 Peak District near Buxton READER CHALLENGE Overto you Ben Hall NOW IT S YOUR TURN. We ve told you how and where to look for dunlins mountain hares and other wildlife in November so let US know if you have any luck spotting them. Send us stories of where you went and what you saw plus any .