LEPORIDAE:
SNOWSHOE HARE Lepus americanus
Yin, 4th Trine, Fixed Element Wood
1927 1939 1951 1963 1975 1987 1999 2011 2023
Gracious, good friend, kind, sensitive, soft-spoken, amiable, elegant, reserved, cautious, artistic, thorough, tender, self-assured, shy, astute, compassionate, lucky, flexible. Can be moody, detached, superficial, self-indulgent, opportunistic, stubborn.
SNOWSHOE HARE in-progress
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Lagomorpha
Family: Leporidae
Genus: Lepus
Species: L. americanus
Binomial name: Lepus americanus
Description: Snowshoe hares are equipped with long ears to gather sounds, giving them an acute sense of hearing. Also, their front feet are quite strong and are specialized for gnawing on tree bark and woody twigs. The sensitive nose and long whiskers of the hares allow them to feed at night, and their large hind feet enable them to stand upright to reach branches while feeding.
Characteristics: Quick and agile, able to move as fast as 43 kph or 27 mph. They can leap 3m (10') in one jump and change direction quickly to escape predators. They can reach speeds of 30 mph and jump 12' in a single bound! They are good swimmers.tall hind legs and long ears and large furry feet to navigate atop winter snow. Nimble and fast. Males are slightly smaller than females. They have good hearing but are not very vocal. Most communication between hares involves thumping the ground with their rear legs. They're well adapted to cold and snow. Their big feet act like snowshoes letting them walk and run on soft and deep snow.
Length and weight: 16-20" and 2-4 lbs
Lifespan: 1 year or less
Colour:
Their coats, brown in summer, turn white—except for the black ear tips—in winter to blend with the snow and hide them from predators.
Snow-white winter coat that turns brown when the snow melts in the spring.Fur: Winter fur is longer than summer fur, helping to keep the animals warm. Takes about 10 weeks for the fur to change colour. The coat is composed of three layers: the dense, silky slate-grey underfur; longer, buff-tipped hairs; and the long coarser guard hairs. The alteration of the coat colour, brought about by a gradual shedding and replacement of the outer guard hairs twice yearly, is triggered by seasonal changes in day length.
Behavior: Snowshoe hares are crepuscular to nocturnal. They are shy and secretive and spend most of the day in shallow depressions, called forms, scraped out under clumps of ferns, brush thickets, and downed piles of timber. They occasionally use the large burrows of mountain beavers (Aplodontia rufa) as forms. Diurnal activity level increases during the breeding season. Juveniles are usually more active and less cautious than adults.
Body:
Distribution: found throughout Canada and northern USA. They are primarily a northern species that inhabits boreal forests and can also range as far north as the shores of the Arctic Ocean.
Habitat: They are shy and secretive and spend mos of the day in shallow deprssions, called forms, scraped out under clumps of ferns, brush thickets, and downed piles of timber. They occasionally use the large burrows of mountain beavers (Aplodontia rufa) as forms. Unlike rabbits, they live above ground. Fields, swamps, thickets, woodlands, and tother areas with lots of undergrowth. Snowshoe hares are forest-dwellers that prefer the thick cover of brushy undergrowth.
Diet: Herbivore: Snowshoe hares feed on trees, shrubs, grasses and plants at night, following well worn forest paths. In the summer they eat greens, grass, and flowers. In the winter, buds,twigs, and bark.
Reproduction: Females have 2-3 litters (from 1-8 young) each year. Young hares, called leverets, require little care from their mothers and can survive on their own in a month or less. Snowshoe hae populations fluctuate cyclically about once a decade.
Predators: Lynx, fox, coyote, some birds of prey, raven, eagle, owl hawks, marten, mountain lions, bobcats, weasels and hummans.
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/snowshoe-hare/
SNOWSHOE HARE
