What About
Jackrabbits?
Background Information
Jackrabbits are an amazing part of the shrub-steppe community.
Both black-tailed jackrabbits and white-tailed jackrabbits are known
to occur in lower Columbia Basin shrublands and grasslands.
Black-tailed jackrabbits are the most common species of hares in
the Basin; white-tailed jackrabbits are uncommon. Jackrabbits used
to be plentiful in the shrub-steppe ecoregion, but their numbers
have dwindled as humans have developed and populated most of
the ecoregion. The white-tailed jackrabbit currently is considered a Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife priority species.
Jackrabbits have been hunted extensively in the Columbia Basin since the early
1900s. But the elimination of sagebrush through agricultural and rural development
and wildfire is the primary reason the number of jackrabbits has decreased in recent
years. Predation by coyotes and humans also has contributed to the species’ decline.
What do jackrabbits look like?
Jackrabbits are well suited to the shrub-steppe
environment. Their buff-colored coats help
them blend into the tan landscape.
Jackrabbits are actually hares, not rabbits. The black-tailed jackrabbit is long-legged
and lean, about 17-31 inches, and weighs 3-7 pounds. Its fur is buff-colored to blend in with the arid environment. Its relatively
long tail has a black stripe, and its long brown ears have black tips. The white-tailed jackrabbit is 18-22 inches long and weighs
5-10 pounds. It is a brownish gray color in the summer and white or pale gray in the winter. Its tail is nearly always white.
How do jackrabbits live?
Jackrabbits are primarily nocturnal and come alive as night falls. During the day, they use shrubs and/or shallow burrows for
cover. They may lie crouched in “forms” they’ve made in the grass by using the same spot many times. On warm days they
relax in the shade of a small bush or fence post and spend the day snoozing and grooming themselves. They feed mostly
on needle-and-threadgrass, yarrow, turpentine springparsley, and tumblemustard. They depend heavily on shrubs such as
sagebrush for protective cover. Jackrabbits are a sagebrush obligate species, meaning they need sagebrush to survive. Blacktailed jackrabbits are the principal prey of golden eagles and are an important food source for coyotes, common ravens, the
great horned owl, long-eared owl, barn owl, ferruginous hawk, Swainson’s hawk, and red-tailed hawk. Humans also are a
predator of jackrabbits. White-tailed jackrabbits occur in sagebrush/bunchgrass habitats, generally at higher elevations than
black-tailed jackrabbits. Their diet consists primarily of forbs during summer months and shrubs in the winter.
How are jackrabbits adapted to life in the shrub-steppe?
During hot summer days, jackrabbits sit in the shade with their ears flattened against their backs. This not only makes
them hard to see, but helps keep them cool as blood passes into their ears, and their entire bodies are cooled by the breeze.
Jackrabbits have a special set of smaller sharp teeth behind their bigger front teeth, which helps them snip plants and twigs.
These teeth are unique to hares and rabbits. Jackrabbits also possess a special digestive system adapted to the shrub-steppe.
They digest their food twice, which allows them to eat a lot of different kinds of vegetation. Other protective adaptations
include keen senses of smell, eyesight, and hearing. The jackrabbits’ large strong hind legs help them outrun prey. When
jackrabbits are frightened, they duck down to hide, and their heartbeat slows, so their breathing won’t give them away. If
jackrabbits do have to flee, their heartbeat speeds up to three times the normal rate, pumping oxygen-rich blood to their
muscles in preparation for flight. Jackrabbits can run with such speed that few dogs can catch them. Their speed is broken at
the beginning of a chase by high long leaps. (They can leap up to 15 feet high and hop as fast as 50 mph.) They not only run
fast, but run in a zigzag pattern to confuse predators.
http://science-ed.pnnl.gov | www.midcolumbiastem.org
Suggested Activities
Even though it’s increasingly difficult to spot a jackrabbit, students can take field trips to grasslands with sagebrush and search for
signs of jackrabbits. These would include tracks, “forms,” droppings, and gnawed shrubs.
Take a tour of the Interpretive Center in Toppenish, Washington, or one closer to your home, to learn about the importance of
the jackrabbit to Native Americans. Native Americans hunted the jackrabbit for its meat and skins. You can also read folklore
about the jackrabbit and write your own stories or myths about the animal.
Imitate how jackrabbits locate their young with the call and response method. Try this: Divide the class or a group of friends
into two groups. Give each person in one group a different animal sound to make. Use the same animal sounds and do the
same with the other group. Line up on opposite sides of an outside area and have each person find their partner by making their
sounds and listening for the person making the same sound. If you are working with older children, have them close their eyes
and try to locate their match.
Conduct your own field study of local animals. Every animal needs an appropriate environment in which to live, including
people. Pick familiar animals to discuss.
Questions might include: What animals do we share our environment with? Tame and wild? What kind of place do these
animals need? What animals live locally? How can you find out? Predict what you think you will find. Mark out an area of study
on your school grounds, in a section of a nearby park or vacant lot, near your backyard bird feeder, or a view from the window of
your home.
Decide on a time for observation and observe the area you’ve marked. It might be more effective if you make repeated
observations over a period of time.
Questions a scientist might ask: Where did you see the animal-in a tree, on the ground, on the roof? What was the animal
doing? Are there signs of other animals? Record the data. After a period of time, stop your observations and consider your data.
What animals were common? Where did you see them? Were there any surprises? Were there other things that may have
influenced your observations that you did not take into account when you set up the observations-for example, the weather or
time of year? Analyze your data. You might want to ask the following questions: You may be looking at the numbers of species
and also the number of individuals of each species. Do these numbers tell us anything about an area? What are the advantages
and/or disadvantages of a diverse population? Of a homogeneous population? How does
the plant population effect the animal population? And vice versa? Invite a wildlife
Notes
biologist to talk to you about what your interpretation of the data. (Adapted from the
“Science is constructed of facts as a
Wild Ones, Animal Neighbors a Study in Biodiversity.)
Other Resources
1. Habitat Types on the Hanford Site: Wildlife and Plant Species of Concern,
1993. J.L. Downs, W.H. Rickard, C.A. Brandt, L.L. Cadwell, C.E. Cushing,
D.R. Geist, R.M. Mazaika, D.A. Neitzel, L.E. Rogers, M.R. Sackschwesky, and
J.J. Nugent, PNL-8942, Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, Washington.
2. How Jackrabbit Got His Very Long Ears, 1994. Heather Irbinskas, Rising
Moon Publishers, Flagstaff, Arizona.
3. Nature’s Children-Rabbits, 1986. Merebeth Switzer, Grolier Educational
Corporation, Danbury, Connecticut.
4. Night Rabbits, 1999. Lee Posey, Peachtree Publishers, Atlanta, Georgia.
5. Rabbits and Hares, 1994. Annette Barkhausen and Franz Geiser, Garth
Stevens Publishing, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
6. Rabbits and Hares, 1976. Robert Whitehead, Franklin Watts, Inc., New York.
7. Rabbits, Hares and Pikas: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan, 1990.
J.A. Chapman and J.E.C. Flux. International Union for Conservation of Nature
and Natural Resources, Gland, Switzerland.
Web Sites
1. Black-Tailed Jackrabbit http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/rabbit/
2. Black-Tailed Jackrabbit Habits http://www.ehow.com/facts_6791709_blacktailed-jack-rabbit-habits.html
3. Jackrabbits: Desert USA - http://www.desertusa.com/animal.html
4. Jackrabbits: Remarkable Critters http://southernnewmexico.com/Articles/Wildlife/Jackrabbits-remarkablecri.html
June 2015 | Second Edition
house is of stones. But a collection of
facts is no more a science than a heap of
stones is a house.”
—Henri Poincare
Keep in mind this fact sheet is intended
to be used only as background information to support your effort to encourage
inquiry-based science, which parallels the
way scientists uncover knowledge and
solve problems.
Acknowledgements
The Shrub-Steppe Ecology Series was a
product of a public/private collaboration
led by PNNL called the Partnership for
Arid Lands Stewardship (PALS), funded
by a U.S. Dept. of Education Eisenhower
Grant. Editor Georganne O’Connor;
Project Manager Karen Wieda.