On harsh mountain slopes where the wind howls and thick snow carpets the landscape, only a handful of hardy species survive.

Among them, Scotland’s native mountain hares, with their thick fur turned wintry white, seem resistant to the worst of the weather.

Hunkered down in often brutal conditions on slopes at the edge of the Cairngorm mountains, wildlife photographer Karen Miller has captured their resilience in the teeth of winter storms and their quirky characters and playfulness as spring turns their fur to brown.

Photographer Karen Miller's connection with Bo, the mountain hare, is the subject of a new filmPhotographer Karen Miller's connection with Bo, the mountain hare, is the subject of a new film (Image: Karen Miller)

But, she fears, with each passing season, she is witnessing their decline as the changing climate brings milder and wetter winters that disrupt their natural patterns leaving them increasingly vulnerable to illness and predators.

“It’s impossible to say how many there are left, so many of them live in places that are inaccessible and on high peaks,” she says.

“When people do surveys and try to count them, they are not necessarily going to see that many.  

“All I know is that first winter when I started to photograph them, I thought their numbers were low then.

“Now I realise they were actually good compared to what they are now.”

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Karen has followed the fortunes of the mountain hares that live on a stretch of hilly territory to the south of Inverness since she quit her BBC office job in Glasgow to follow her passions for the outdoors and photography.

Having moved north, she was quickly captivated by the exploits of the often-elusive mountain hares: difficult to spot in spring and summer with their brown fur, even trickier in winter as their coats turn to white.

A mountain hare with its white winter coatA mountain hare with its white winter coat (Image: Karen Miller)

She became familiar with their territories and quickly forged a particularly strong bond with one female that seemed to occupy the same spot every time she visited, almost posing for her camera.

Karen called her ‘Bo’. And over the next couple of years, she saw her time and again, usually at the same spot, sometimes even – to her delight - popping up in other photographers’ images.

As time wore on, Karen became even more in tune with the hare’s behaviour: signs of her lactating pointed to her having had young, and her changing fur was a tell-tale sign of changing seasons and the risks she faced from another hard winter.

Bo, the mountain hare, with her white winter coatBo, the mountain hare, with her white winter coat (Image: Karen Miller)

Now Karen’s touching bond with the mountain hare she named 'Bo' has been captured in a short film that will be premiered later this month at the second annual Montrose LandxSea Film Festival.

Finding Bo is one of several films to focus on human connections with Scottish wildlife during the three-day environmental-themed festival, which is co-produced by acclaimed filmmaker and podcaster Anthony Baxter and international festival producer Rachel Caplan.

Among them is the Scottish premiere of Shetland-shot Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story, which explores the touching connection between a wild otter and the couple who ‘adopted’ her.

It follows them as they rescue the starving wild otter, and quickly find she becomes part of their family.

The festival, at the community owned Montrose Playhouse cinema, runs from Friday, 13 September to Sunday 15 September, and will close with the multi-award-winning documentary, The Eagle with the Sunlit Eye.

Photographer Karen Miller swapped an office job to photograph highland wildlifePhotographer Karen Miller swapped an office job to photograph highland wildlife (Image: Karen Miller)

It documents the successful reintroduction of the white-tailed eagle and the ensuing conflict within Scotland’s rural community.

The festival programme also features films which explore concerns and the impacts of the changing climate. Among them, the UK premiere of Chasing Time, which spans 15 years and records powerful scenes of melting glaciers.

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The changing climate is an underlying theme in Finding Bo, which follows Karen, 52, after leaving her office job in 2016 to spend hours waiting in wild wintery weather in the hope of capturing photographs of the mountain hares in their snowy white coats.

Mountain hares' fur changes to white during winter monthsMountain hares' fur changes to white during winter months (Image: Karen Miller)

The film offers rare insight into the world of the elusive hares, which were given protected status in 2021 amid concerns the unlicensed culling was contributing to a slump in numbers.

Estate owners argued culls were necessary to prevent damage to sensitive habitats and to reduce the risk of a tick-borne disease carried by mountain hares spreading to grouse.

However, with concerns that up to 38,000 mountain hares were being killed every year on grouse moors, it is now illegal to kill, injure or take mountain hares at any time of year without a licence.

But while the move aims to help numbers recover, Karen fears the changing climate is damaging the native species’ numbers.

“People say their numbers will rise again, but they are really up against it,” she says.

“They are designed for snowy winters and really do not like wet and windy winters, which is what it’s been like almost every year since I moved.

“The rain is horrendous for them, but they don’t use burrows like a rabbit, they live outside.

“Their thick coats which are designed to keep them warm in the snow get waterlogged which can lead to hyperthermia.

“They get sick, and they die.

“They need snow and a proper winter which we’ve not really had.”

Karen Miller swapped an office job to become a wildlife photographerKaren Miller swapped an office job to become a wildlife photographer (Image: Karen Miller)

Their dazzling white winter coats are perfect camouflage when there is thick snow, otherwise they “shine like a beacon” against heather and rocks, putting them at risk from predators.

A survey of mountain hares in 2022 involved volunteer ‘citizen scientists’ including hillwalkers and birdwatchers, helped shed some light on the distribution and numbers of the charismatic animals.

However, because of their tendency to be timid, nocturnal creatures, they can be hard to spot and finding their true numbers is difficult.

Karen says that also makes seeing them particularly special, and even more so when they seem content to share their outdoor space.

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“Every hare is different, some will let you get quite close and Bo is a very chilled hare.

“The first time I went up a hill and sat with a hare that was just a few metres away, it was life-changing for me,” she adds.

Mountain hare, Bo, in her winter white coatMountain hare, Bo, in her winter white coat (Image: Karen Miller)

“Being with this wild animal in its space was exciting and special. After that, every trip north made me realise I wanted to spend as much time as possible with them.”

Karen last saw Bo in mid-May.

“The mountain hares are incredibly hard to see in spring and summer when they are brown. But I will go up in a month’s time and hope to see her,” she adds.

Bo, the mountain hare photographed at her familiar spotBo, the mountain hare photographed at her familiar spot (Image: Karen Miller)

“I obviously don’t know if she’s survived winter, or if she has been predated or died due to illness or because she’s old.

“If I do see her sitting on her spot, it will be fantastic.”

But, she adds, there’s bound to come a time when Bo doesn’t come back.

If that happens this time around, Karen says she’ll be sad, but also pleased that Bo has helped play a part in raising awareness of her species’ plight.

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“So many species are at risk. Hopefully by introducing them to people through photographs and social media and telling their stories, they can follow their progress.

“Most people will probably never see one, but they love them and are passionate for them and want to fight for them.”

Tickets for all LandxSea events are available at landxsea.org