Black-tailed jackrabbit

The black-tailed jackrabbit, Lepus californicus, also called the American desert hare, is a common hare of the western United States and Mexico, found from sea level up to about 3,000 metres. At around 61 centimetres long and 1.4 to 2.7 kilograms it is one of the largest North American hares. It occupies mixed shrub and grassland terrain, does not migrate or hibernate in winter, and uses the same home range of roughly one to three square kilometres all year. Its diet is made up of shrubs, small trees, grasses and forbs, with shrubs generally supplying most of the fall and winter diet. Young are born fully furred with their eyes open and can move within minutes of birth, and litters average about four. It is an important prey species for eagles, hawks, owls, coyotes, foxes and wild cats, and hunters often avoid it because it hosts many fleas, ticks, lice and mites.