Sunday, March 21, 2010

Official Jack Rabbit Watcher

         Since I seem to post a quite few things on jack rabbits(lepus townsendii) I feel like I'm watching them all the time and might as well claim the title of official jack rabbit watcher  for myself. There are quite few jack rabbits in my neighborhood so when I run across them there's usually something to say about them. They are always interesting. Since I was brought up on a prairie farm, I've been exposed to the jack rabbit for a long time. Since they are well camoflaged we would often scare them up from a close range. They probably alarmed us as much as we scared them. To see them bounding off with long leaps and at high speed always called for you to stop and watch.

        So today, on my early morning paper, route I saw one jack rabbit under a spruce tree. It was still completely white. All of our snow has melted except for a few snowbanks. This poor specimen was rather obvious although I'm sure he thought he was still well camoflaged. There is just a  tiny bit of dark fur showing through the white so it probably won't be long until they are in their summer coat. I'm sure one will pop up in the next few days to show me how the summer coat is progressing.