Small Mammals of North Dakota
White-tailed Jackrabbit
Lepus townsendii
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The white-tailed jackrabbit is a large hare found throughout North Dakota. It is heavy-bodied and is about 2 feet in total length from the nose to the end of its hind feet. Average weight is about 7 pounds.
Jacks prefer open areas with cover where their keen hearing, eyesight and speed enable them to escape from predators. When danger is near they will escape by running and may attain speeds of 40 m.p.h.
This species breeds from late February to mid-July. Females bear 2-4 litters of 1-9 young each year. Young are born in burrows, cavities or depressions in the vegetation. They soon begin eating green plants and join the adults in foraging on native grasses, clover and alfalfa.
White-tailed jackrabbits turn white in response to decreasing daylight hours in late fall. During winters, they may gather in numbers along tree rows and other woody plots where they eat buds, shoots and bark of trees and shrubs. They have a variety of predators but the more serious problems are probably disease, parasites and man's activity of breaking up native grasslands for agriculture.
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