muir's Identifications

After some research, I believe this is a snowshoe hare. It has been hanging out in the neighborhood around my house for a few weeks. I kept trying to trap it and eventually gave up because it only wanted to eat the food I have been leaving out. It eventually became so comfortable with all of the vegetables it was letting me feed it! This is a video and picture from when I first started getting comfortable with it, but haven't been able to get one since winter approaching. Usually about once a week or so I will see him resurface in the neighborhood, but I feel he is now getting ready for winter as he is now white. According to denali.org, snowshoe hares tend to change colors according to the season. By October, they are completely white. The color changing starts with their feet and works upwards on their bodies. The population of hares fluctuates throughout the years. A population of them will start out large, sometimes about 600 per square mile, and slowly decrease throughout the years. The website also states that snowshoe hares are nocturnal animals, meaning they can see in the dark. During the daylight hours they will spend most of their time sheltering under bushes or stumps. During the night they tend to follow familiar pathways to find food and feed. After spending nearly five months with this guy (June-October), I have named him thumper and the entire neighborhood now also calls him that. I am hoping he makes a return next year after his winter adventures!
Snowshoe Hare. Denali Education Center. (2022). Retrieved October 28, 2022, from https://www.denali.org/denalis-natural-history/snowshoe-hare/