Lepus californicus
black-tailed jackrabbit

Lepus californicus is found throughout the southwestern United States into Mexico, as far east as Missouri, north into Washington, Idaho, Colorado and Nebraska, and west to California and Baja California.

Black-tailed jackrabbits inhabit desert scrubland, prairies, farmlands, and dunes. They favor arid regions and areas of short grass rangeland from sea level to about 3,800 m. Many different vegetation types are used, including sagebrush-creosote bush, mesquite-snakeweed and juniper-big sagebrush. They also frequent agricultural areas where they can impact fruit and grain crops.

Black-tailed jackrabbits measure 47-63 cm from nose to rump, the tail is between 50-112 mm and the ears are 10-13 cm long. As they are true hares, black-tailed jackrabbits are lankier and leaner than rabbits, have longer ears and legs, and the leverets are born fully-furred and open-eyed. Black-tailed jackrabbits possess a characteristic black stripe down the center of the back, a black rump patch, and the tail is black dorsally. Both sexes look alike, but the female is the larger of the two sexes.

As with all hares, blacktails rely on speed and camouflage (along with the characteristic "freeze" behavior) for their defense. When flushed from cover, a blacktail can spring 20 feet at a bound and reach top speeds of 30-35 mph over a zigzag course. Black-tailed jackrabbits do not generally occupy burrows: rather, they dig shallow depressions in the earth in which to lay. Black-tailed jackrabbits are mainly unsociable but are driven to common food sources in periods of drought. They are inactive during the hot afternoon hours and are mainly nocturnal, resting under bushes by day. Home ranges in California average 20ha (dependent upon population density), with females having larger ranges than males.

Grasses and herbaceous matter are the preferred foods of Lepus californicus, but twigs and young bark of woody plants are the staple food when other plants are not available. Sagebrush and cacti are also taken. Jackrabbits eat almost constantly and consume large quantities relative to their size; 15 jackrabbits eat as much as a large grazing cattle in one day. Black-tailed jackrabbits do not require much water and obtain nearly all the water they need from the plant material they consume.

Due to the removal of natural predators, such as coyote and kit fox, by European settlers, black-tailed jackrabbit populations have undergone incredible population explosions in which crops, orchards, and rangelands have suffered. They do considerable damange to farms, forest plantations, and young trees.

As with many other Lepus species, L. californicus has been widely used as food for humans, especially by Native Americans. Their fur is not durable nor valuable, but it has been extensively used in the manufacture of felt and as trimming and lining for garments and gloves.

Population numbers of black-tailed jackrabbits are sometimes quite high despite attempts at culling their populations by ranchers and farmers. Population densities often reach 470 animals per square km, with densities as high as 1500 animals per square km being recorded. Large herding attempts have netted as much as 6,000 hares at a time. As with many hares, Lepus californicus populations undergo drastic fluctuations, with population numbers peaking every 6 to 10 years. In some years more then 90 per cent of western populations die from tularemia, which may or may not be related to the population cycling phenomenon. Because of their incredible fecundity, black-tailed jackrabbit numbers quickly recover from these kinds of die-offs.

Black-tailed jackrabbit populations are not threatened in general, though extensive habitat destruction may reduce suitable habitat. (Wilson and Ruff, 1999)

Jackrabbits obtained their name from early settlers of the Southwest who, noting the animal's extraordinarily long ears, dubbed it "jackass rabbit." This name was later shortened to jackrabbit. This species has 8 named subspecies. (Wilson and Ruff, 1999)