Snowshoe Hare Identification

© Robert Potts - CA Academy of Sciences, all rights reserved

Photo by D. Gordon E. Robertson (CC)

• Size: MEDIUM…but relatively LARGE hind feet!
• Fur: dark brown, or white in winter!
• Ears: SHORT
• Tail: SMALL, white to GRAYISH-BROWN
• Habitat: mountainous forests and thickets, especially near
  riparian habitat and meadows
• Distribution in CA: UNCOMMON in the upper elevations of the Klamath
  and Cascade Mtns. south through the Sierra Nevada to Mariposa,
  Mono, and Madera counties

© photo by Kim Cabrera, all rights reserved

• Size: SMALLEST common rabbit…with SMALL feet!
• Fur: brown
• Ears: SHORT
• Tail: SMALL, underside is GRAY
• Habitat: Chaparral or thick brush
• Distribution in CA: ABUNDANT throughout west of the Sierra Nevada Mtns.

photo by Justin Wilde - Hanford, Washington

• Size: SMALL
• Fur: brownish-grayish; white underside
• Ears: SHORT
• Tail: WHITE and COTTON-LIKE
• Habitat: thickets, loose rocks and cliffs, and brushy areas with sagebrush
• Distribution in CA: COMMON on the eastern
  slopes of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mtns. south through Inyo county

Photo by Jim Harper (CC)

• Size: LARGE
• Fur: grayish-brown; black streak on top of tail
• Ears: LONG, BLACK-tipped
• Tail: BLACK on top
• Habitat: open prairies, and sparsely-vegetated shrublands and semi-arid deserts;
  sometimes forests
• Distribution in CA: COMMON throughout, except at the highest elevations

Photo by Connormah (CC)

(CC)

• Size: LARGE
• Size: LARGEST hare
• Fur: brownish-gray in summer, or whitish-pale gray in winter!
• Ears: VERY LONG, BLACK-tipped
• Tail: WHITE on top and below
• Habitat: open, grassy, or sagebrush-dominated plains; also subalpine conifer
  or alpine dwarf-shrub
• Distribution in CA: UNCOMMON to RARE on the crest and upper eastern
  slopes of the Sierra Nevada, south to Tulare and Inyo counties