Snowshoe Hare (Lepus americanus)

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Snowshoe Hare (Leporidae: Lepus americanus)

The Snowshoe Hare occurs throughout the Northern Boreal Forest of North America. Its range also extends into the mountains of the western United States, the transition zone between the Northern Boreal Forest and the Eastern Deciduous Forest, and southward into the Appalachian Mountains.

Characteristic Features: The hind feet of the Snowshoe Hare are very large and flat, an adaptation for walking on snow. The hare is white in the winter time and brown in the summer and fall. The ears are tipped with black.

Similar Species: The Tundra Hair of western Alaska and the Arctic Hare are limited to arctic tundra habitats and rarely overlap the Snowshoe Hare in range. The tail of both of these two species is always white including the summer time. The tail of the Snowshoe Rabbit is brown in the summer. The hair of the Snowshoe Rabbit in the winter is white only at the tips, but yellowish brown below the tips. The fur of the Arctic Hare and Tundra Hare is white all the way to the base.

Habitat: The Snowshoe Hare occurs in forests, thickets, and swamps and marshes in the Northern Boreal Forest.

Food: The diet of the Snowshoe Hare consists of non-woody plants during the summer time and twigs, buds, and bark during the winter. During the winter they will also eat frozen meat from carrion.

Behavior. The Snowshoe Hare is one of the predominant prey animals of a variety of predators including the Canada Lynx, Gray Wolf, and a variety of eagles and owls. The animals is nocturnal spending the daytime in a lair beneath bushes or trees. The populations fluctuate tremendously in numbers with an approximately 11 year cycle.

Reproduction: Young are born from April to August with 2 to 3 litters a year depending on location. Each litter usually contains between 2 and 4 young.