Snowshoe Hare
Lepus americanus Erxleben
FOOD HABITS:
Winter Sustenance: aspen, birches, willow,raspberries, maples, alder, red spruce, white cedar, eastern hemlock, and white pine.
Summer Sustenance: clovers, sedges, ferns, grasses, berries, and other foliage.
REPRODUCTION:
The females have around 6 or 7 young a year. The litters occur during the spring and summer months of the year, usually containing 2 to 3 young per litter. After the 36 or 37 day gestation period is over the female bear the young. Each newborn weighs 82 grams, and are about four inches long. At dusk for 5 to 10 minutes they nurse, and again every 24 hours. Weaning takes place at 4 to 6 weeks. The young leave by autumn and start reproducing the coming spring.
LIFE SPAN:
Their potential life span is up to 8 years, but many adults only make it to 2-5 years of age.
Snowshoe Hare in the Summer
Snowshoe Hare Pellets
Snowshoe Hare in the Winter
Fast Facts
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Superclass: Euteleostomi
Class: Mammalia
Order: Lagomorpha
Family: Leporidae
Genus: Lepus
Species: americanus
RANGE:
From the border of Canada and North America south into the northern parts and then east. The range extends further south into the Appalachian Mountains and into eastern Tennessee, New mexico into the Rockies into Nevada and California.
HABITAT:
Tall conifers for daytime resting and protection from predators sight. Woody browse in the winter months that provide passages from resting place to their food source.
Bibliography
Hare. N.p., 2015. Web. 8th Dec. 2015.
"Snowshoe Hare." Lakechamplainorganisms -. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2015.