Since the rabbits hang around my yard quite a bit , I get to make interesting observations and then curiosity makes me look things up. This last while one animal has made my yard his/her location for the day. They are not very active in the day as they rest and groom.
So two weeks ago I started noticing small changes in color of the rabbit's coat. All winter the jack rabbits have had a very thick white coat. The white coat is great as it provides warmth and camouflage in the winter snow.
So I got thinking about what makes the process happen. It's primarily a molting process. The photo period provides the start of the molting process. So changing light causes hormones to do their work. Biology continues the process.
So now the big white coat is falling off. I find large tufts of white fur around my yard. A new summer coat is growing in which will be a brown/gray which provides camouflage in a summer environment. It is also much cooler and prevents the animal from overheating.
The change in molt is slow but is never the less happening.
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