![]() Small game hunting for species such as rabbits and hares is a great way to recreate and put wild game on the table.Predators like large owls and coyotes will prey on snowshoes.Young snowshoes also will hide in separate places and only come together once a day for feeding and they are weaned after about four weeks. Young snowshoe hares are born fully furred and their eyes are open (unlike cottontails). Young are born after about a month and the female simply hides them under a log or shrub. Breeding takes place between March and September and adult females may have 2 to 4 litters a year.Snowshoe hares may even eat meat and scavenge a meal from a carcass! Hares eat grasses, buds of woody plants, and needles from conifers.Snowshoes also lose their brown summer fur and get a white coat for the winter, giving it excellent camouflage. Snowshoe hares are well adapted for snow with their large hind feet, which help the animal travel over the snow.Snowshoe’s prefer forests with thick understory and is often found in places like coniferous forests, cedar bogs, and spruce swamps.Snowshoe hares are primarily found in the northern two-thirds of Michigan.Learn more about the cottontail rabbit.Many predators seek cottontails as prey such as coyote, fox, hawks and owls.After about three weeks the young rabbits are weaned and on their own. The mother only visits her nest once or twice a day to nurse her young. A cottontail’s litter is usually 3 to 8 babies. Baby rabbits are born about a month later with little hair and their eyes closed.Females from the first spring litter can breed that same summer. Breeding can take place between March and September and adult females could have up to three litters in a year.In the winter, cottontails eat twigs, buds, and bark of many shrubs.Summertime foods include grasses, clover, and garden vegetables.Cottontail’s prefer areas with ample vegetation and hiding places such as brush piles and thickets.Cottontail rabbits can be found throughout most of Michigan but are less common in the northern portions of the state.Snowshoe hares are best adapted to the higher snowfall and dense forests of northern Michigan. Cottontails are a species best adapted to southern Michigan’s landscape and weather. They are able to reproduce at a fast rate and early age so their populations can tolerate a high level of predation. Two species are found in Michigan, the cottontail rabbit and the snowshoe hare.īoth rabbits and hares are species adapted to being food for predators, such as hawks, owls, coyote, and foxes. However, hares tend to weigh more and have larger hind feet than rabbits. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).Rabbits and hares look very similar and both are quite recognizable with their long hind legs and long ears. They range in size from 13–20 in (34–50 cm) in length and weigh between 2.4 and 5.5 lb (1.1–2.5 kg). They have long ears, up to 3 in (7.5 cm) long, and powerful hind legs. Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae. When pet rabbits are happy they may jump in the air turning and twisting their bodies, a behaviour known as a binky. Their whiskers are the same width as their body and are used to determine whether they will fit through a hole, which stops them from getting stuck in tunnels. European rabbits are burrowers and live in underground tunnel networks called warrens. Rabbits live in the wild but also make great pets.
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