SPACING AND HABITAT PREFERENCE OF MOUNTAIN HARES IN SHETLAND.

(1) On heather moorland in Shetland, mountain hares (Lepus timidus L.) were more numerous than in other Scottish islands, the west and north-west of Scotland and the north of England. (2) In winter, hares were widely spaced on heather-dominated vegetation. In spring, they commonly occurred it dyads <10 m apart. (3) Available shelter from weather and predators was less good in Shetland than in north-eastern Scotland, where mountain hares are most abundant. (4) Exposure limits the growth of heather in Shetland, and. extensive burning, leading to the replacement of heather by Molinia and Trichophorum heaths, as practised in west and north-west Scotland, does not occur. (5) The large extent of heather (the main food of mountain hares) in Shetland compared with many parts of mainland Scotland probably accounts for the relative abundance of hares, and is likely to be more important than the absence of predators upon adult hares. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]