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Mammal. The white-tailed jackrabbit is actually a hare, not a rabbit. Baby jackrabbits can run immediately after being born. Adults can leap 3 meters (10 feet) at a time at speeds of 64 kilometers (40 miles) per hour. Jackrabbits are nocturnal, feeding mainly from sunset to sunrise. During the day, they hide in shallow depressions called “forms” that may be covered with plants. In winter, jackrabbits may burrow in snowbanks, or lie in depressions with only their eyes, flattened ears, and backs visible above the snow. Jackrabbits are strong swimmers. If cornered, they will dog-paddle with all four feet. |
| Scientific
Name |
Lifespan |
| Lepus townsedii |
8 years |
| Diet |
| Herbivore.
Grasses, winter wheat, dandelions, blue gramma grass, clovers, grains, roots, twigs, and buds of fruit trees. |
| Predators and Threats |
| Coyotes, wolves, bobcats, eagles, hawks, owls, foxes, and humans. |
| Habitat |
| Open grasslands, pastures and fields; Western United States, but south only to Utah, Colorado, and Kansas; parts of British Columbia. |
