Mountain hare lives at elevations from 700 to 3800 m, depending on biographic region and season. The mountain hare is a large species, though it is slightly smaller than the European hare. It grows to a length of , with a tail of , and a mass of , females being slightly heavier than males. In summer, for all populations of mountain hares, the coat is various shades of brown. In preparation for winter most populations moult into a white (or largely white) pelage. The tail remains completely white all year round, distinguishing the mountain hare from the European hare ("Lepus europaeus"),
Rabbit stew dish to be black in color, whereas the recipe for rabbit stew calls for it to be a bit lighter in color compared to the hare stew. Hare stew is included in volume 2 of "Le Ménagier de Paris", which was first published in print form by Baron Jérôme Pichon in 1846. This recipe called for the use of several spices, including ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, grain of paradise, cloves and pepper, or other exotic spices. These spices were expensive during this time. Rabbit stew is a traditional dish of the Algonquin people, an indigenous people of North America. Rabbit stew