THAT'LL TEACH YA

      Two topics are common on this blog. One topic is everything jack rabbit. The other is the micro Manager.

     Today  both topics are in one.

     I have many blogs and photos of various jack rabbits who visit and reside in my yard. Jack rabbits are active all night and look for a safe place to spend the day. About 50% of the time I have a Jack rabbit in my yard all day so they are easy to watch. 

     Now the Micro Manager is in my house day and night so I see and hear her in action day and night.

     On many topics and issues the micro manager disagrees with me and makes no apology for telling me.

    From time to time the odd jack rabbit misbehaves  and eats some of my plants. They particularly like new plants. Recently I set out tomatoes and corn. So one day I noticed the little corn plants had been given a severe trim.

    So when I reported this to the Micro Manager her reply was, "That'll teach you for encouraging them to be in the yard!"

   This has happened before and the plants survive. Before this I was able to close the back yard. This year I've lost some of the fencing so I can't keep the critters out.

MORE RABBIT

       Can you stand another jack rabbit story? Well you're going to get one.

       Jack rabbits are very often in my yard. Sometimes one will visit my   yard daily for six weeks in a row. Jack rabbits are mainly nocturnal so they find a safe place to hang out in the daytime. They  doze, groom, nibble and take short walks. They also have an instinctive way of positioning themselves for safety. They make sure that their back end is up against something like a rock , fence or brush. This protects them from a predator attacking from the rear.

      The other hot evening a rabbit was peacefully laying on the loose soil in my garden. Two magpies showed up and were picking up food. The rabbit sort of watched them but when one magpie got too  close the rabbit got up  and the magpie moved away. The magpie came back again and this time the rabbit got up and moved a few feet. The rabbit leisurely stretched and the magpie saw the opportunity to line up behind the rabbit in the blind spot. As quick as lightning the magpie moved to peck the rabbit on his behind. That got the rabbit's attention and he made haste to leave my yard.

    I have never heard about any incidents such as this.

I FOUND MY CAMERA

      Well, I didn't lose my camera. I didn't use it when I should have. One of my commenters reminded me that I hadn't taken a photo when I should have.

     I should have taken a photo  of the rabbit and it's changing color. So here is the jack rabbit  starting to look a little ragged.

     This was taken out of the back window of my house.

A JACK RABBIT WHO THINKS HE'S A HORSE

         I tell many jack rabbit stories. Jack rabbits inhabit my back yard for months at a time. So I see a lot of their behavior.

         The jack rabbit is a night critter. In the day time they find a quiet safe place. The safe place is where nothing can approach them from the back. In other words they put their butt against a fence. They can see if a predator is coming from the side or front. The spend the daytime quietly sleeping , grooming, stretching, nibbling on near by plants or wander around the yard a bit. Grooming takes most of the time.

         I've had two jack rabbits inhabit my yard separately from August to December. They are there 90% of the time. They do not share. I happened  to look  out my window in mid Oct. and two animals were having a little tiff. One animal left and it was the one who'd been there a couple of months. The second one stayed until about 2 weeks ago.

     So the horse antics. I happened to see the animal arrive one morning. First , it would run quickly for 4 or five meters and then put on the brakes and sit for about 5 seconds. Then it would run back and twist and curve. Then it would jump up and down on the spot.. What amazed me most is when it rolled on it's back with feet flailing in the air. Horses do this but I've never seen any other animal roll onto it's back. 

    So I was privileged to see some interesting behavior.

MORE RABBIT

     I find that many posts I write do not end where I think they should end. In other words there's more to the story. Sometimes more happens and the story grows.

    That's what happened to the rabbit post of   Aug 17. I had portrayed the rabbit as sneaky and a nuisance.

    Well, some of these things may be true. 

    Later on you get some information that shows you are not quite right.

    A rabbit has been hanging around my yard. I also  see it in the morning. It seems to hide in the garden.

    Well yesterday I noticed that this rabbit has nipples. Yes, a row of nipples down her side. This indicates that she is nursing.

    When Jack rabbits have their babies, they hide them in different places  on the day they are born. The babies stay quiet all day. At night the mother comes to feed them several times. When the young are able to fend for themselves they leave the protection of the place that they were left by the mother. 

   So we get a very different idea of this particular jack rabbit when we learn some more. 

JACK RABBIT REPRODUCTION.

      We  sometimes hear the expression breed like rabbits. Jack rabbits can had two or three litters a year. They can start in March or April. I have seen a young litter in September. 

      Today part of the breeding process was taking place in my front yard.

       We usually think of the rabbit as being a quiet gentle animal. Not so when it comes to breeding. First of all you see a number of rabbits chasing up and down the street at great speed. They are looking for the female who is coming near the time when she is ready for breeding. 

     Finally two to four bucks will find her and keep close to her so that she will not get away or other bucks take possession. If the female moves the bucks become instantly alert . The bucks compete with each other. They punch one another and scream very loudly. It's an interesting process. I have not observed behavior past the pushing shoving and screaming. 

     Usually I notice them at the punching and screaming stage. 

    Finally the deed is done and after a 42 day gestation period the little guys are born. They are hidden in plant growth. The female comes back at night to feed them. One time four little guys were placed in my tomato patch. They didn't like it when I watered my tomatoes but they stayed in place. 

    So today the two bucks and female left my yard so I did not get to see the serious pushing and shoving. I also did not get photos as I would frighten them if I went in the yard or tried to take a photo out of the window. 

I THINK SPENCER IS BACK

         I wrote a series of posts in the last two months about a jack rabbit. It started out when I thought that the  color had not all changed to winter white. He/She then kept coming back. This was a surprise as I didn't think they stayed in the one shelter for very long. 

       So Jan. 10 was the last time I had a visit from Spencer.

      Today I look out and there's Spencer back in the same place.

      I think it would be the same animal as it's back to the exact place as before. I don't think another animal would take over another rabbit's shelter. 

     And this animal still has a noticeable amount of it's coat that hasn't turned white.

SPENCER, THE JACK RABBIT

        Back on Dec. 10 posted about a jack rabbit that hadn't turned completely white. I went down a rabbit hole and started to keep track of this animal. 

         It started coming to my yard on a regular basis and I have a photo of each visit. Around visit 8 He/she received the name Spencer. 

        I told you before that jack rabbits make a scrape to sit in during the day. Spencer made a scrape in my raspberry patch. They make sure that their behind is covered so a predator can not see or sneak up on the rabbit. If the rabbit  sees something coming from the front they have escape routes. 

      Spencer stayed in my yard 13 times. Spencer usually came every 3 or 4 days. On Jan. 6 we had snow and Spencer's scrape was covered with snow and Spencer did not return.

       Now I'll give you the first and last photo and you can decide if there was much change in the coat

      They sit in the scrape all day. The occasionally stretch. They also spend a lot of time grooming. Spencer was spooked and left the scrape once but returned 30 min

                        First visit Nov. 25

                   Dec 27 so about the middle of the visit  

                                    Grooming

                         Last day Spencer visited

I'M BAAACK!

        The bunny was back at it's scrape this morning and stayed all day. They rest and groom during the day.

        The first photo is from 9:00 AM this morning. We had 4 to 6 Cm of snow Thur. evening so one of the raspberry leaves was hanging down over the rabbit's face because of the weight of the snow on the leaf. Later in the day the snow fell off the leaf and you could see the rabbit's face. 

       He/She/it will be the same animal coming back to it's spot. The animal probably has several more scrapes where it spends the day. They rotate from scrape to scrape for security. 

THE JACK RABBIT

     We have the pleasure of having a large jack rabbit population in the city. I've seen them in front of the downtown library so they are right downtown.

     The jack rabbit is fairly large. Length varies from 22 to 26 in and weight from 5.5 lb. to 9.5 lb. 

     They are mostly active at night but usually remain resting in the day. In my subdivision there may be 5 to 12 animals and they visit my yard very often. 

     These rabbits turn white for the winter. That's what this post is going to be about. Most years all animals have their white coat long before this time. This year there are a number of animals that have a winter coat but they are mostly brown. That's what I'm wondering about. Why are these animals still brown rather than white?

     I took the first photo on Nov. 25. The ears stay brown and the ear tips are black. The second photo was taken Dec. 7. I believe this to be the same animal. It has two forms under my raspberries. A form is a place that is smoothed out and they stay there all day.

     This animal will probably keep spending time in my yard every 4 or 5 days until something scares it off. I'll keep watching.