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The Arctic hare survives with shortened ears and limbs, a small nose, fat that makes up close to 20% of its body, and a thick coat of fur. It usually digs holes in the ground or under the snow to keep warm and to sleep. Arctic hares look like rabbits but have shorter ears, are taller when standing, and, unlike rabbits, can thrive in extreme cold.
The snowshoe hare's ears are not as long as some other species of hares' ears. In the winter, it turns a bright white to blend in with the snow. Snowshoe hares range in length from 413 to 518 mm (16.3 to 20.4 in), of which 39 to 52 mm (1.5 to 2.0 in) are tail.
Hares are generally larger than rabbits, with longer ears, and have black markings on their fur. Hares, like all leporids, have jointed, or kinetic, skulls, unique among mammals. They have 48 chromosomes, [10] while rabbits have 44. [11] Hares have not been domesticated, while some rabbits are raised for food and kept as pets.
European hare (above) compared with a mountain hare Stuffed mountain hare, showing the winter pelage. The mountain hare is a large species, though it is slightly smaller than the European hare. It grows to a length of 45–65 cm (18–26 in), with a tail of 4–8 cm (1 + 1 ⁄ 2 –3 in), and a mass of 2–5.3 kg (4 + 1 ⁄ 2 – 11 + 3 ⁄ 4 ...
Like other jackrabbits, the black-tailed jackrabbit has distinctive long ears, and the long powerful rear legs characteristic of hares.Reaching a length about 2 ft (61 cm), and a weight from 3 to 6 lb (1.4 to 2.7 kg), the black-tailed jackrabbit is the third-largest North American jackrabbit, after the antelope jackrabbit and the white-tailed jackrabbit.
The snowshoe hare in its winter coat is well camouflaged among the snow. Other chionophiles can be found on or near the equator and yet still live in freezing temperatures. This is mostly due to their geographical range, such as on high altitude mountains where it can reach very cold temperatures and have less oxygen the higher the altitude.
The European hare's fur does not turn completely white in the winter as is the case with some other members of the genus, [21] although the sides of the head and base of the ears do develop white areas and the hip and rump region may gain some grey. [6]
Alaskan hare skeleton on display at the Museum of Osteology. The Alaskan hare (Lepus othus), also known as the tundra hare, is a species of mammal in the family Leporidae. [2] They do not dig burrows and are found in the open tundra of western Alaska and the Alaska Peninsula in the United States. They are solitary for most of the year except ...