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Hare
Lepus sp.
44.8344, 6.46924
Field Notes
Description:
While snowshoeing in French Alps, our path crossed those of hares - prints in photos show that the hare was heading left. The four prints in pics N° 1 and 2 represent one leap - two parallel prints in front are its rear paws; while the two front paws are behind and aligned. This shema was counter-intuitive to read for a while, but I came around it in the end - when leaping, the hare anchors itself with front paws, and jump over them, leaving the print of rear paws in front... The paw-prints are elongated and pointed on one end, with four roundish digital pads well printed, while claws design the point.
Habitat:
Found in alpine larch forest at some 2000m of altitude, in Écrins National Park in French Alps.
Notes:
It was difficult to define the right species for these traces - two species are found in this protected area, and the line of demarcation is moving (and is being studied constantly by park rangers). The two species present in Ecrins NP are European hare (Lepus europaeus) and Mountain hare (Lepus timidus), the later one being more an alien (but well established now) species here.
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