Snowshoe Hare (Lepus americanus struthopus)

Rabbits and snowshoe hares may look the same, but hares differ in that their young are born fully furred and with their eyes open. Young rabbits are born in underground burrows naked, blind, and fully dependent. Hares do not burrow or dig holes as rabbits do but nest under rocks, logs or trees.

Rabbits were first domesticated by humans in Africa. Today, there are over 30 breeds of domesticated rabbits in North America. Some species kept in Nova Scotia include New Zealand White, Californian, Lops, Rex, Siamese Satins, and Dwarfs.

Rabbits are one colour year round. Snowshoe hares undergo two moults each year, from a brown summer coat to a white winter coat. Snowshoe hares have large hind feet with long toes and stiff hairs that act as snowshoes to support them on snow.

Common in Nova Scotia, snowshoe hares eat a variety of green vegetation such as dandelions, clover, daisies as well as the leaves of willow and birch trees. In winter, they feed on buds, twigs, bark and needles of trees and shrubs.

Many predators feed upon snowshoe hares including great horned owls, lynx, bobcats, foxes, coyotes, mink and humans. Hares have excellent hearing and may try to avoid detection by freezing and relying on their protective colouration or by fleeing. They can travel with bounds up to 3 m long and speeds up to 17 km per hour. They inhabit conifer thickets and alder swamps and follow familiar paths between feeding and shelter areas.