Black Tailed Jack Rabbit Behavior

Ears of this jackrabbit are rimmed in white and tipped in black year round. The juvenile pelage is similar but paler in colour with more under fur and less developed course guard hairs (Kim, 1987). White-tailed jackrabbits have a number of other distinct morphological characters which reflect adaptation to their environment and ecology. Black tailed jack rabbit behavior Single Deck Blackjack Fewer decks mean a decreased house edge, so if you have the opportunity to play Single Deck Blackjack, take it.He got lucky and jumped the lead.You will notice that the very best poker casinos will offer many games for you to participate in such as omaha hi-low, texas holdem, and even 5-Card Stud.

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Abstract

Jack
Observations were made on a population of black-tailed jack rabbits on the Gray Lodge Waterfowl Management Area, Butte County, California, over an 18-month period. Approximately 100 of the hares were captured and marked with plastic ear discs, and released. No social organization or family structure could be detected among the adult hares. Jack rabbits prefer rather open areas with a good supply of small succulent plants for feeding. The height of feeding activity occurs in the evening, but (depending upon the time of year and the weather) jack rabbits may feed at any time. Jack rabbits construct forms in which they rest. The pattern of use and construction of these is variable. The hares may react to alarm by freezing, creeping away or fleeing rapidly. The particular reaction apparently depends on the type and suddenness of the alarm, and on the situation in which the hares are located. The alarm appears to spread from one hare to others in the group. Jack rabbits swim readily and well if pressed. Under ordinary circumstances they seem to avoid water. Sexual activities can be classified into the following categories: the hunt, the approach, the chase, the boxing match, and copulation. Any or all of these activities can end quickly and be replaced by some other behavior. Pregnant female jack rabbits avoid approach by others and react in a rather antagonistic manner. This antagonism seems to lead to a spacing of hares and may be considered a type of territorial behavior. Almost all of the sexual and aggressive behavior appears to be intimately related to the breeding season. The lack of antagonism between jack rabbits appears indicative of the lack of reproductive activity in the population.

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Jackrabbits (Lepus spp.) have long ears, long hind legs, are larger than rabbits, and live in western and central North America. They are hares rather than rabbits, bearing fully furred young with open eyes and not constructing burrows for homes. They eat plants, including cacti, each jackrabbit eating 1/2 to 1 pound of plant material daily. They can have four litters of two to eight young per year.

Jackrabbits

Jackrabbits are nocturnal, feeding at night and retreating to shallow depressions they dig for themselves, called forms, in the shelter of shrubs or other vegetation. They occupy a wide variety of habitats, from arid desert scrub, sagebrush desert, prairies, northern plains and even alpine-tundra areas. They are able to survive by eating a wide variety of plant materials, including grasses, sedges, different kinds of leafy annual and perennial plants, shrubs and succulents like cacti and yucca. They also eat crops such as alfalfa, barley and winter wheat.

Antelope Jackrabbit

The antelope jackrabbit (Lepus alleni) inhabits desert scrub and grassland in southern Arizona and northern Mexico. Well-suited for their environment, they have reflective yellow-brown fur to reduce their heat load -- large ears that act as heat radiators -- and don't need to drink free water, getting all the moisture they need from their food. During the dry season, they eat mostly mesquite leaves (Prosopis spp.) and cacti, but when rains allow other plants to grow, they eat grass. Antelope jackrabbits can run fast to avoid predators, and flash a white rump patch while running to confuse predators. Pronghorn antelopes (Antilocapra americana) also have this behavior, which gave this jackrabbit its common name.

Black-Tailed Jackrabbit

The black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus) is the most common jackrabbit in the western United States. You can tell it from the other kinds of jackrabbits by its black-topped tail. It weighs 3 to 7 pounds, and is grayish-brown with black-tipped ears. Fast runners, they reach 35 mph at top speed and can jump in 20-foot bounds. They inhabit short- and long-grass regions in the Midwest, sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) scrub in the Great Basin and mesquite-prickly pear areas in the Sonoran Desert. In Kansas, black-tailed jackrabbits eat prickly pear (Opuntia spp.) fruits from early autumn until freezing weather. Seeds pass through the intestinal tract into the feces, and jackrabbits are thought responsible for spread of prickly pears in prairie rangeland. They also eat the pads during times of drought.

White-Tailed Jackrabbit

The white-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus townsendii) is native to the north central and northwestern states and into Canada. It is the largest jackrabbit, weighing from 6 to 10 pounds. It turns from brownish-gray to white in winter in the parts of its range where snowfall occurs. White-tailed jackrabbits can reach 40 mph running on all fours, and can also hop like a kangaroo. They live mostly in grassland habitats, or mixed shrub-grasslands, avoiding dense timber areas. They prefer more densely vegetated areas for cover but graze in more open areas. In short-grass prairie of Colorado, white-tailed jackrabbits were found to also eat fruits of prickly pear cactus, but in addition ate fruits of a pincushion cactus (Mammillaria vivipara), perhaps helping this cactus in seed dispersal as well.

References (3)

  • Wild Mammals of North America: Biology, Management and Conservation; George A. Feldhamer, Bruce C. Thompson, Joseph A. Chapman

Jack Rabbit Storage Virginia Beach

About the Author

Cathryn Chaney has worked as a gardening writer since 2002. Her horticultural experience working in the nursery industry informs her garden articles, especially those dealing with arid landscaping and drought-tolerant gardening. Chaney also writes poetry, which has appears in 'Woman's World' magazine and elsewhere. Chaney graduated from the University of Arizona in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts in English.

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Black Tailed Jackrabbit Behavioral Adaptations

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Chaney, Cathryn. 'Can Jackrabbits Eat Cacti?' Home Guides | SF Gate, http://homeguides.sfgate.com/can-jackrabbits-eat-cacti-71556.html. Accessed 12 January 2020.
Chaney, Cathryn. (n.d.). Can Jackrabbits Eat Cacti? Home Guides | SF Gate. Retrieved from http://homeguides.sfgate.com/can-jackrabbits-eat-cacti-71556.html

Cottontail Rabbit

Chaney, Cathryn. 'Can Jackrabbits Eat Cacti?' accessed January 12, 2020. http://homeguides.sfgate.com/can-jackrabbits-eat-cacti-71556.html
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