What behavioral adaptations do snowshoe hares have?

What behavioral adaptations do snowshoe hares have?

Snowshoe hares have an interesting adaptation that helps protect them against predators. Depending on the season, their fur can be a different color. During the winter, snowshoe hares are white, which helps them blend in with the snow. When the seasons change to spring and summer, snowshoe hares turn a reddish-brown.

What are some fun facts about snowshoe hares?

Snowshoe hares can run upwards of 20 MPH. To avoid confrontation they blend in with their surroundings and remain completely still. Their primary food sources are shrubs, twigs, leaves, and even conifer needles. Snowshoe hares are mainly herbivores, but have been known to eat dead animals.

What are some physical characteristics of snowshoe hare?

The snowshoe hare’s fur is rusty brown in the spring and summer, and white in the winter. It also always has a gray underbelly, and black on the tips and edges of its ears and tail. It has very large hind feet, and dense fur on their soles. The snowshoe hare’s ears are not as long as some other species of hares’ ears.

What do snowshoe hares do in the winter?

In winter, they eat twigs, buds, and bark. Snowshoe hares browse heavily on vegetation and often leave behind well-defined browse-lines (often referred to as “hare lines”). Hares will also re-ingest their feces to extract all of the available nutrients from their food.

How do snowshoe hares defend themselves?

Their fur is thick to protect them from freezing temperatures. It also turns white in winter so that they are almost invisible in a snowy background. This helps them hide from predators.

How do snowshoe hares change color?

Snowshoe hares are unique because their fur color changes with the seasons. The length of daylight triggers this change. In the spring, hares begin to shed their white winter coat in favor of the brown colors of summer. In the fall, the hares then shed their brown summer fur in preparation for the winter snow.

Can snowshoe hare swim?

Even though they’re all about the winter sports, the snowshoe hare can put their big feet to good use swimming in the spring and summer. Hares are very strong swimmers, jumping into ponds and streams to get to food or escape a predator.

Do snowshoe hares make good pets?

Unfortunately, Snowshoe Hares are not typically sold or bred as pets. It’s a wild animal whose needs are not able to be satisfied in an artificial environment. It’s better to purchase one of the many varieties of rabbits that are much better suited for life in the home and enjoy being around people.

Are snowshoe hare endangered?

Least Concern (Population stable)
Snowshoe hare/Conservation status

Can snowshoe hares swim?

The Snowshoe hare can run up to 27 miles per hour and jump 10 feet in one hop. It is an expert at escaping predators like the wolf, bobcat or lynx. When a predator chases it, the hare will quickly change direction. Snowshoe hares are also very good swimmers and will jump in the water to make an escape.

What are snowshoe hares prey?

Snowshoe hares feed at night, following well worn forest paths to feed on trees and shrubs, grasses, and plants. These animals are nimble and fast, which is fortunate, because they are a popular target for many predators. Lynx, fox, coyote, and even some birds of prey hunt this wary hare.

What do animals eat snowshoe hares?

Snowshoe hare is the primary food of the lynx. The population cycles of these two species are closely linked. When hares are plentiful, lynx eat little else and take about two hares every three days. Lynx prey upon mice, voles, squirrels, grouse, ptarmigan and carrion when hares are scarce.

What does a snowshoe hare look like?

A snowshoe hare looks like a rabbit at first glance, but in general hares have longer ears, very large hind feet, and longer legs made for jumping. Hares are also born with their fur and their eyes open, unlike the rabbit.

Where do snowshoe hares live?

Snowshoe Hare Distribution. The Snowshoe Hare is native to many locations found around North America. They live in many known regions including around mountains, on the plains, and in the cold areas around the conifer locations.