Snowshoe Hare
Relatives in same Genus
Arctic Hare (L. arcticus)
Black-tailed Jackrabbit (L. californicus)
Alaskan Hare (L. othus)
White-tailed Jackrabbit (L. townsendii) ...
The Snowshoe Hare (Lepus americanus) occurs across most of Canada as well as Alaska and the northwest regions of the lower 48 states.
Snowshoe Hare
The Snowshoe Hare (called Lepus americanus by scientists)is known for the way it changes its fur color in different seasons. In the summer, this hare is reddish-brown except for its white belly.
Snowshoe Hare
Mammal. Snowshoe hares are quick and agile, able to move as fast as 43 kph (27 mph). They can leap 3 m (10 ft) in one jump and change direction quickly to escape predators. They are also good swimmers.
Snowshoe hares are forest-dwellers that prefer the thick cover of brushy undergrowth. They are primarily a northern species that inhabits boreal forests and can also range as far north as the shores of the Arctic Ocean.
Snowshoe hares mate from February to July, with birth coming 36 days later. One female can have three or four litters of up to four young each year. Hares nest in small depressions in the ground.
Snowshoe Hare Behaviour
No observations regarding Snowshoe Hare behavior have been submitted to the database yet.
Interesting Facts about Snowshoe Hares ...
Snowshoe hares eat a variety of plants during summer, including vetch, strawberry, raspberry, and fireweed. Their winter diet consists of small twigs, buds and bark.
Status: ...
Snowshoe Hare
Order: Lagomorpha
Family: Leporidae
Click to enlarge. (100 kb) ...
Snowshoe hares, rabbits, rodents and birds, and are one of the few specialized predators of porcupines. Fishers are aggressive hunters.
Also known to eat insects, nuts, and berries when prey is not available. Despite their name, they do not hunt fish.
Snowshoe Hare
Lepus americanus
Statewide except Dukes & possibly Nantucket counties. Also introduced, principally L. a. americanus.
Snowshoe hares often abandon fresh burns if cover is sparse and nutritious browse is available elsewhere [55]. Snowshoe hares attain peak populations 5 to 30 years following fire, especially in habitat dominated by quaking aspen and birch (Betula spp.
When snowshoe hares are scarce, Canada lynx will also feed on small to medium-sized mammals and birds. They hunt by stalking or ambushing prey.
The Snowshoe Hare Lepus americanus is the southern version of the Arctic Hare and is widespread throughout Canada's boreal forests.
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FOOD:
Snowshoe hares are the primary prey of lynx. Lynx are specialized hunters and can survive only where there are adequate hare populations. Lynx occasionally prey on mice, voles, grouse, ptarmigan, and red squirrel.
Diet: The snowshoe hare is by far the most important prey item for the Canadian lynx. The availability of hares largely controls lynx abundance across most of their range.
Natural Diet: Snowshoe hares, cottontail rabbits, mice, and other rodents, as well as white-tailed deer, foxes, birds, and other animals are among bobcats' prey.
Mammals like the snowshoe hare, moose, beaver and muskrat can also be found in and around bogs. And on a gruesome note: Preserved bodies are sometimes found in bogs! ...
snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus)
snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus virginianus)
southeastern fox squirrel (Sciurus niger niger)
southeastern myotis (Myotis austroriparius)
southeastern shrew (Sorex longirostris longirostris) ...
Subgenus Poecilolagus: Snowshoe Hare (L. americanus)
Subgenus Lepus: Arctic Hare (L. arcticus) Â- Alaskan Hare (L. othus) Â- Mountain Hare (L. timidus)
Subgenus Proeulagus: Black-tailed Jackrabbit (L. californicus) Â- White-sided Jackrabbit (L.
Food items include but are not limited to red backed voles, red squirrels, mice, snowshoe hare, bird eggs, nestlings, insects, fish, young mammals, berries, wood fiber, lichen and grass (Bull 2002).
: Probably starvation following rapid cyclic declines in snowshoe hare populations, which occur about every ten years, is the greatest single source of natural mortality among adults and yearling lynx.
Snowshoe hares are a very important food for these cats, and when there are fewer hares to eat, the number of lynx decreases.
Canada lynx population numbers are closely tied to the cycle of their favorite prey, snowshoe hares. Although their diets consist primarily of snowshoe hares (90%), they will also eat the fresh meat of grouse, squirrels, red fox, and small rodents.
In Michigan wolves eat deer, beaver, snowshoe hare, rodents and other small mammals, and may also eat woodchuck, muskrat, coyote, raccoon, insects, nuts, berries and grasses.
Snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus)
Arctic hare (Lepus arcticus)
Broom hare (Lepus castroviejoi)
White-sided jackrabbit (Lepus callotis)
Brown hare (Lepus europaeus)
Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
Hispid hare (Caprolagus hispidus) ...
An Opportunistic Hunter: The bobcat mainly hunts cottontail rabbits and snowshoe hares, but isn't so finicky as to turn up its nose at squirrels, foxes, rodents, deer and carrion.
The lynx feeds on the snowshoe hare wherever possible, and will feed solely on these if given the opportunity. Their sharp claws and teeth aid them in their hunt, and they can bring down animals as large as a deer.
They are also known to eat snowshoe hare, birds, eggs, wasps nests, berries and roots. A wolverine is so powerful that he can bring down prey 5 times bigger than himself!
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They feed mostly on Snowshoe Hares. They will also eat small birds, rodents, deer, and caribou. Although not a timid hunter, the lynx will rarely contest its prey if confronted by other carnivores and will leave the kill uneaten.
Their principle source of food is mice, but squirrels, snowshoe hares and pikas are also popular. Martens also eat a variety of fruits and berries in summer, insects, birds, bird eggs and some carrion.
Diet: Fishers are carnivorous (eat meat) -- they primarily eat mice, porcupines, squirrels, snowshoe hares, birds, and shrews. Like other carnivores, they also feed on fruits and berries, including beechnuts and apples.
Prey species are location dependent, and consist mainly of small mammals and birds such as Snowshoe Hares, cottontails, ground squirrels, chipmunks, grouse, jays, woodpeckers, smaller hawks, and robins.
Nest Site ...
Other small mammals such as squirrels, mice, lemmings, and snowshoe hares are also taken. During winter months, when rodents may be more difficult to find, the major of their prey becomes avian.
They require a mosaic of forest types, including young trees for hunting their primary prey (snowshoe hares), old-growth trees for building their dens, and something in the middle to act as a corridor between the two.
Prey is often smaller than the hunting hawk, but these birds will also rarely kill much larger animals, up to the size of snowshoe hares and jack rabbits.
Call / Song:
Its call is a fierce screech.
Diet: Feeds on wide variety of birds, including ducks, grouse, and crows, as well as small mammals such as squirrels, snowshoe hare, lemmings, and rabbits.
Some hares include the common hare, the jack rabbit, the Arctic hare, the snowshoe hare, the European hare, and the blue hare. Some hares are solitary, while others live in groups.
 See also: Hare, Rabbit, Lynx, Deer, Squirrel
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