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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.
Except for the occasional Arctic hare, white-tailed or antelope jackrabbit (Lepus alleni), most leporids hunted in North America weigh 2 kg (4.4 lb) or less, including the smallest hare in the world, the 1.45 kg (3.2 lb) snowshoe hare, and the smallest rabbit in the world, the 400 g (0.88 lb) pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis).
Snowshoe hare populations are dramatically cyclical, and in peak years there may be up to 600 snowshoe hares per square mi (230/km 2) of the animals' range. [61] The hares are a key food source for Alaska's furbearers, especially lynx, and are also important for human subsistence and recreational hunting. [61] Tundra hare Lepus othus
A specialist predator, the Canada lynx depends heavily on snowshoe hares for food. [22] Snowshoe hare populations in Alaska and central Canada undergo cyclic rises and falls—at times the population densities can fall from as high as 2,300/km 2 (6,000/sq mi) to as low as 12/km 2 (31/sq mi). Consequently, a period of hare scarcity occurs every ...
Both rabbits and hares are almost exclusively herbivorous (although some Lepus species are known to eat carrion), [5] [6] feeding primarily on grasses and herbs, although they also eat leaves, fruit, and seeds of various kinds. Easily digestible food is processed in the gastrointestinal tract and expelled as regular feces.
One genus, Lepus, contains 32 species that are collectively referred to as hares; the other eight genera are generally referred to as rabbits, with the majority – 19 species – in Sylvilagus, or the cottontail rabbits. Over one hundred extinct Leporidae species have been discovered, though due to ongoing research and discoveries the exact ...
Snowshoe hare. Rabbits and hares (Order Lagomorpha, Family Leporidae) Eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) — introduced to New England in the late 1800s and has expanded its range at the expense of the native New England cottontail. [10] The species originally came from the south. [3]
Snowshoe hares have a negative effect on moose as they eat some of the same vegetation that moose eat, which only contributes to the decline in appropriate forage for moose. [17] The red fox is yet another animal that inhabits Isle Royale; red foxes mainly feed on snowshoe hares and occasionally scavenge on moose, or any other meat a wolf ...