Washington State is home to eight members of the rabbit family. Nuttall’s cottontail, pygmy rabbit, pika, snowshoe hare, black-tailed jackrabbit, and the white-tailed jackrabbit are native. Eastern cottontail and the domestic rabbit have been introduced into the area.
The most commonly seen species in the western part of the state are the snowshoe hares and the eastern cottontails. The snowshoes are fond of the western Cascades and Olympic Mountains, away from human development. Cottontails have adapted to urban life and they seem to tolerate us quite well.
It is said that there are no wild rabbits on the Olympic Peninsula. However, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife assured me that we do have snowshoes and a few cottontails. I haven’t seen any bunny rabbits or signs of them, but I have seen hare tracks in snow, complete with large back feet.
The hares are rather widespread in the forests and subalpine [just below the timber line of the peaks] regions of the park, but they are nocturnal and quite secretive.
Of course, jackrabbits are also hares, We have two types of jackrabbits in the state [but not on the Peninsula]. Black-tailed and white-tailed jackrabbits can be found on the semi-arid Columbia Plateau, which stretches between the Cascades and the Rockies. The plateau includes part of the Columbia River, hence the name. Both jackrabbit types are bigger than snowshoes, weighing about twice as much.
Hares differ from rabbits in that young are born fully furred with their eyes open, and they can hop and nibble on grass within hours of their birth. Cottontail gestation period is 27 to 30 days. Hare gestation period is usually 42 days, which may explain the differences. The Arctic hare on the other hand, is pregnant for 52 days. I suspect that Arctic babies need to be more fully developed before being introduced to the world. Gestation for snowshoes is a bit shorter than in other hares – 37 days. Breeding takes place between February and September and a female can rear three or four litters a year, each with 2 to 4 young kits. Apparently, she is fated to be a single mother.
Snowshoe hares in the Olympic Mountains are different from other snowshoes. Over the rest of the northern half of North America, snowshoes turn white in the winter and then back to brown in the summer. On the Peninsula, however, the hares remain brown. I don’t know why. The brown color does help them blend in with dirt and rocks.
These hares are called “snowshoe” because of their large back feet, which allow them to remain active during all seasons. The downside to the ability to navigate in snow is that there are few small mammals moving about in the snow so the snowshoes often become prey during the winter.
During summer months, snowshoe hares feed mainly on grasses and other greens. Every season brings a change in diet. During the winter months, some animals migrate with the weather, leaving mountain meadows behind as the snow falls. Snowshoe hares remain, even when their mountain habitat is blanketed under up to 10 feet of snow. The snow cover brings them closer to conifer buds and shrub bark, which make up the majority of their diet during this time.
Snowshoes are smaller than some other hares. The average weight of a snowshoe is about 3.5 pounds. By comparison, cottontails weigh about 2.5 pounds and jackrabbits clock in at 6 or 7 pounds.
A snowshoe hare can’t be the Easter bunny because, frankly, he doesn’t give a damn about us.
I’d love to see a snowshoe hare, but I guess I’ll have to be content with tracks in the snow.