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Characteristics of the Jackrabbit

A type of hare, the jackrabbit was immensely feared in puritan times. It was believed that witches were able to transform themselves into these animals to travel unnoticed and act out their magical menacing. Adding to this fear, hares were believed to sleep with their eyes open, constantly watching and assessing their surroundings. In more modern times, the name jackrabbit came about with the contraction of the nickname jackass-rabbit, so called due to their large ears that resemble a donkey's.

Description
- Jackrabbits are actually hares, not rabbits. Jackrabbits are larger than rabbits, about 2 feet in length and weighing between 3 and 9 lbs. They have long, powerful legs that they use to run and jump at speeds up to 40 miles an hour and large ears. The most common of the five species of jackrabbits are the black-tailed and the white-tailed varieties. Their upper bodies are brownish-grey in color, while their undersides are white. The black-tailed jackrabbit has a black striped tail and black-tipped ears. The white-tailed jackrabbit has a completely white tail.
Habitat
- Jackrabbits are native to central and western North America. The black-tailed variety lives mainly in desert and scrubland areas and likes large open spaces. The white-tailed jackrabbit prefers to live in the hills, valleys and mountainous areas. Although they have two distinct habitats, they do co-exist in some overlapping areas. Jackrabbits also tend to live on farmland with abundant food sources. This causes a lot of problems for farmers, who often exterminate them to save their crops.
Diet
- Jackrabbits are herbivores and eat a large variety of vegetation. Black-tailed jackrabbits mainly consume grasses and desert plants such as sagebrush and cacti, while white-tailed jackrabbits eat mostly grasses, bark and shrubs. Jackrabbits are nocturnal and eat mostly at night. They require a lot of food and can eat up to 1 lb. of vegetation per day. Because they eat so much, a group of jackrabbits can easily destroy a farmer's crops in a very short time, and as such, they are considered pests.
Breeding
- Jackrabbits do not build nests for their young like rabbits do. As hares, jackrabbits choose a spot and give birth to young that are covered in fur and already have their eyes open. They are very strong breeders and can give birth to a couple of litters a year, each containing from one to six leverets (baby hares). The babies grow and mature quickly and are ready to breed within seven or eight months, resulting in large populations that grow exponentially.

Animals & Science