White-tailed Jackrabbits - Prairie Hares - Turn White

Prairie Hare huddles in the shade. (You can't see me...)   © SB 

Signs of oncoming winter in Saskatchewan include White-tailed Jackrabbits (Prairie Hares), with legs and ears turning white.

By the full onslaught of snow and cold, these bodies of these Prairie Hares will be fully white.

The hare in these pictures was exploring a park near my house in Regina, SK, in early October.

I stayed far away, while it hid (less than effectively from me, though the passing dog ignored it), stop-motion, in a strip of shade.

(It seemed far more alarmed by the sunny stretches of grass, and leapt quickly across those. I guess dimmer light offered it at least the illusion of greater protection.)

Any strip of shade will do for this Prairie Hare,
whose legs and ears are already turning white. © SB 

And yes, I know that this morning as I write this, it is snowing... Snow that will melt... I will ignore it... 


What is this? A White-tailed Jackrabbit, or Prairie Hare

Location: Neighbourhood park, Regina, Saskatchewan 
Photo dates: October 2, 2013. 

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The March Hare in my Regina Alley

After a mild winter, it's already March. But snow still covers the ground and the prairie hares are still very white. I startled this one when I backed my van out of the garage this morning. It ran ahead of me, down the alley — then stopped to pose for a picture. (Long lens; I was about one short alley block away.)

The March Hare -- prairie hare, March 4, 2012. 

I have other pictures of hares in this blog, at Whitetailed Jackrabbits in my Neighbourhood, and in LatitudeDrifts, at Morning Jackrabbits in Regina. 

What is this? White-tailed jackrabbit or prairie hare.
Location: Regina,Saskatchewan.
Photo dates: March 4, 2012

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White-tailed jackrabbits in my neighbourhood

White-tailed jackrabbits live in my Regina neighbourhood. I see them when I'm driving in winter after dark (they dash across the road or run beside me) and pre-dawn, from my living room window (they forage in our yard and at the neighbour's).

Winter is the best time to see these large prairie hares — at least, that's when I see more here. The sun sets now at about 5 p.m. and doesn't rise till after 9 a.m., so nights are long and jackrabbits are nocturnal.

First light of the day, first white-tailed jackrabbit
of the year, on the neighbour's snowbank. 

Grizzled gray, with black-tipped ears.  

Pink nose, black ears, hiding on the sidewalk
across the street from my house. 

What is this? White-tailed jackrabbit or prairie hare.
Location: Regina,Saskatchewan.
Photo dates: New Year's Day, 2012

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My elusive neighbours: prairie hares

Too high to leap here...

It was late when I left the office. I felt tired and achy after more than a week of presenteeism and wanted only a hot bath. Or wine. Or sleep. Or preferably all three. High quantities, in any order.

Sky blurred into night, snow shimmered in the headlights of my van. I slowed to turn into the network of alleys behind my house. And stopped.

Ahead, five metres on, eyes flashed at me. White on white, a hare on hard-packed snow, pure energy coiled in the middle of my route. It sprang and twisted and took off down the alley to the next alley south -- the one that goes to my garage.

I drove slowly after it. On my left, the prairie hare ran for a snowbank, scaled it, and leaped over a fence. On my right, a second one appeared, eyes shining from a drift beside the roadway. It stared, then ran in gliding leaps, pausing for seconds at a time to peer back at me. It passed half a dozen backyards before veering through a gap beside a hedge.

These hares are new to me this winter. At least, their official name is: White-tailed jackrabbits, which as anyone can tell from a name like that, are hares, not rabbits at all. (Names of species are oh, so logical.) I often see them in the alley and my front yard. Usually at night. And usually two. Siblings, or a mated pair? Or do they make that distinction?

They're not new to this community, but until this year, I called them rabbits. Grey-streaked in summer, they look to me like cute cottontails, but without those plush-toy fluffy tails. (I am perhaps a less-than-attentive observer of nature.)

White-tailed jackrabbit mid-colour change. 

Late fall. All photos © Shelley Banks

One day late last fall, when I was leaving work, I saw one standing near my (red, right side of pic) van, the weirdest rabbit I've ever seen. Its legs were far too long -- and totally white. The winter colour changes had begun.

After that, I called them snowshoe hares. They are small, with neater ears than cartoon images I've seen of desert jackrabbits. But snowshoe hares like forests, and my city is in the middle of the prairie. The prairie is also where white-tailed jackrabbits have long lived -- in addition to city parks and laneways. Eventually, I accepted the obvious: these were my neighbours.

On my way to work the morning after I saw the pair in the alley -- I was still sick, but ready for another presentee day -- I slowly traced the same route in reverse. That white-tail's tracks were clearly visible, its long thin footprints chiseled deep into the snow.

No time to look before the leap --

I hope there were no dogs... 

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