Alternate name: Varying Hare

Family: Leporidae, Hares and Rabbits view all from this family

Description In summer, dark brown, with small tail dark above and dusky to white below. In winter, white, sometimes mottled with brown; white hairs remain dark at base. Black-tipped, moderately long ears. Large hindfeet, with soles well furred, especially in winter. This species stays brown all year in w Washington and Oregon. Some black (melanistic) hares in Adirondack Mountains remain black all year. L 15–20" (382–520 mm); T 1–2 1/4" (25–56 mm); HF 3 7/8–5 7/8" (100–150 mm); E 2 5/8–3 1/8" (66–79 mm); Wt 2–3 lb (896–1,400 g).

Similar Species Cottontails are smaller and do not turn white in winter. Most other hares are larger and occur in open habitats. Arctic Hare and White-tailed Jackrabbit have all-white tails. Antelope Jackrabbit has white lower sides and lacks black on ears. Black-tailed Jackrabbit has much longer ears. European Hare is larger, with larger ears.

Breeding 2 or 3 litters per year, beginning in March, each of 1–6 young (average 3).

Habitat Northern forests.

Range Alaska and most of Canada south to n California, n New Mexico, n Minnesota, n Michigan, n New Jersey, and southward through Allegheny Mountains.

Discussion One of the smallest and shiest of the hares, the Snowshoe Hare rests by day in a form, hollow log, or Woodchuck or Mountain Beaver burrow, although it may venture out in overcast weather. If disturbed, it may run in a circle covering several acres, traveling at speeds up to 30 mph (50 km/h), with bounds to 12 feet (3.5 m), and usually passing close to its point of departure. It often tries to hide in brush like a cottontail instead of running into the open like most hares. When alarmed, it may thump its hindfeet. Although a good swimmer, it avoids water. It frequently bathes in dust and often uses the dusting wallows of grouse.

In summer, the Showshoe Hare feeds on grasses, green vegetation, willow, and berries when available; in winter, it resorts to conifer buds and the bark of aspen, alder, and willow. It will also eat carrion, and some individuals become nuisances to trappers by stealing bait.

The seasonal molt, when the coat of the Snowshoe Hare (and other species displaying seasonal coloration) changes, is a photoperiodic phenomenon governed by lengthening or shortening periods of daylight. As daylight diminishes in autumn, the hare begins to grow a white-tipped winter coat that at first is patchy -- excellent camouflage against patchy snow; by the time daylight is at the minimum and large expanses of ground are blanketed with snow, the hare has turned white to match. As the days lengthen in spring, the winter coat is gradually shed and replaced with brown. But when snow comes unusually late in fall or lasts unusually long in spring, the hare will have molted nonetheless; at such times it is conspicuous to predators and becomes less active than usual, seeking cover.

Young Snowshoe Hares can run within hours of birth, but may nurse for almost a month. Northern populations of Snowshoe Hares seem to be very cyclic, undergoing major highs and lows at fairly regular intervals. Snowshoe Hares become exceedingly plentiful every nine or ten years, then swiftly plummet in number. The causes of these population fluctuations are not fully understood, though many explanations have been proposed. The fluctuations appear to be related to the crowding that exists at higher population densities. One likely explanation is that the crowding initiates a "stress syndrome" believed to retard the reproduction process and cause a dramatic decline in population.

The Snowshoe Hare’s predators include weasels, foxes, Minks, owls, hawks, Wolverines, Bobcats, and especially Lynx, which in Canada depend on these hares so heavily as a food supply that their population levels parallel the hare’s, following them by one year.