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MAMMAL FACTS
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Description
Black-tailed jackrabbits are hares with very long ears and long lanky legs. The fur is dark brown flecked with black, and has a black stripe down the center of the back and a black rump patch. The underside of the body is white, also the inside of the legs is white. The tail is black above and white or gray underneath.
Other Names
Desert Hare
Size
Length: 47 - 63 cm. Tail: 5 - 11cm. Ears: 10-13 cm long. Weight: 1.3 - 3.1 kg.
Environment
desert scrubland, prairies, farmlands, sand dunes.
Food
Grasses and herbaceous plants. In winter they also eat twigs, bark, sagebrush and cacti.
Breeding
Females produce 3 or 4 litters annually. One to six leverets (usually 3 or 4) are born after a gestation period of 41-47 days. The leverets are born fully-furred and open-eyed, and are weaned after 14 - 21 days.
Range
southwestern United States into Mexico from California in the west to Missouri in the east, and north into Washington, Idaho, Colorado and Nebraska. Also Baja California, Mexico.
Classification
| Class: | Mammalia | | Order: | Lagomorpha | | Family: | Leporidae | | Genus: | Lepus | | Species: | californicus | | Common Name: | Black-tailed Jackrabbit |
Relatives in same Genus
Snowshoe Hare (L. americanus)
Arctic Hare (L. arcticus)
White-tailed Jackrabbit (L. townsendii)
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