by Christy Solo – Editor
With Easter just a hop, skip and a jump away, over the next two weeks All Things will celebrate Oregon’s bouncing bunnies.
Fun fact: Traditionally rabbits are called “bunnies”, but not all “rabbits” are rabbits, some rabbits are hares.
There are two genuses (AKA genera) in the Family Leporidae. Hares (which include jackrabbits) are in the Genus Lepus and rabbits are in the Genus Brachylagus.
Which is what? And more importantly, can we call them all “bunnies?”
As a rule, for non-domestic species, rabbits are smaller than hares and have shorter ears. Baby rabbits – AKA bunnies – are born hairless and with their eyes still closed. Baby hares – AKA leverets – are born fully developed with silky hair and eyes wide open.
That said, we will not be judging anyone for calling a hare a “bunny”, we also won’t judge anyone for calling fully grown Leporidae “bunnies” either.
Let’s face it, looking at him Bugs Bunny is no doubt a hare, but he goes by “Bunny” so it’s just canon now.
Back to non-domesticated rabbits and hares. When threatened, rabbits opt to hide vs. run, so they tend to live in areas with trees, shrubs and grasses to hide in and behind. They also live in underground burrows.
Hares’ legs were designed for sprinting, so they live in more open habitats such as prairies. Hares make small nests in open depressions. If the nests you made for the Easter Bunny were constructed from freshly mown lawn grass, you were betting that particular bunny was a hare (quite likely, they have a lot of running around to do Easter Eve!)
Onto Oregon’s own rabbits and hares. We have seven species: three hares and four rabbits. We’ll go alphabetically and meet our hares first: Black-tailed Jackrabbit, white-tailed jackrabbit and snowshoe hare.
Both black and white-tailed jackrabbits live similar lives, but in different regions (there is crossover).
Black-tailed are a bit smaller than white-tailed. Black-tailed average 18-24 inches in length and weigh up to six lbs. White-tailed are our biggest bunnies by far, with a length of 22-26 inches and weight up to 9.5 lbs.
Both species live in jackrabbity open areas and spend most of the daytime hours lounging in their shallow nests. They are most active at dawn and dusk because every predator loves a good rabbity meal, so jackrabbits dine in the near-dark.
Jackrabbits are vegetarians feeding on clover, alfalfa and other easily available greens in spring and summer. In winter they have to get by on woody and dried vegetation.
Jackrabbits get a lot of mileage from their green fuel; they can run up to 30 MPH and jump up to 20 ft. in one giant leap (Elmer Fudd had no chance at catching that Wascally Wabbit!) They don’t rely on speed alone to evade predators; however, they sprint in a zig-zag pattern.
As for breeding, okay, they do breed year-round but that old trope “breed like rabbits” really should be “breed like rats.” Brown rats breed year-round, have a 21-day gestation and have litters of up to 14 babies. That there is some breeding!
Jackrabbits have a gestation of 41-47 days with an average of three leverets per litter. The mother jackrabbit will move each baby to a different location to avoid predation. She will only nurse them for a few days, and then they are ready to be on their own.
As for “where can I see a jackrabbit?” If you’ve seen one in our area, it was a black-tailed jackrabbit. They can be found throughout eastern Oregon, but west of the Cascades they are only in the Rogue, Umpqua and Willamette Valleys.
White-tailed can only be seen in the northeastern corner of Oregon.
On to snowshoe hares. They are smaller than jackrabbits raging from 16-22 inches and weighing about 3.5 lbs. They do have really big back feet packed with dense, short hairs from which they get their “snowshoe” moniker. These tootsies allow them to navigate over snow in winter without sinking.
Snowshoes are arguably most well known for their seasonal color changes. In spring and summer they are a warm brown, but in late fall and winter they sport a snowy white coat.
Fun fact: Even in the depths of winter snowshoes maintain a bit of black coloration. Their eyelids and the very tips of their ears stay dark.
While snowshoes are hares, their habits and habitat lean more to the bunny side. They live in areas with dense plant coverage such as boreal forests, upper montane forests and wetlands. Most snowshoes in Oregon live in and along the Cascades.
As you might have guessed by their habitat and penchant for camo coloration, snowshoes go in more for the “be very still and blend in” method of avoiding predation than the “run, rabbit run!” tactics of their jackrabbit cousins.
The diet of snowshoe hares is largely vegetarian – herbaceous plants and the new growth of woody vegetation in summer and in winter they eat twigs, buds and bark. However, because they live in some pretty harsh areas in winter, they will also occasionally eat carrion.
Snowshoes mate from late December through August and with a 35 to 40 day gestation they only have three litters per year maximum. Each litter will have 3-5 leverets.
Final fun fact: Snowshoe hare populations cycle in 8-to-11-year periods, and densities may fluctuate 5 to 25-fold during a cycle. While scientists have several theories, as of now there is no definitive answer as to why these fluctuations occur.
Come back next week for “Rabbits, rabbits and more rabbits!” of Oregon.
