Canyon Country Animals
Mammals: Rabbits, Hares, and Pikas
This page contains basic information on the rabbits, hares, and pikas commonly seen in canyon country.
Desert Cottontail
Scientific Name: Sylvilagus auduboni
The cottontail is a small rabbit distinguished by its "cottontail"—a distinctive white tail, like a snowy powder puff. Gray to brownish in color. Long ears and large eyes placed on the sides of the head. Eight subspecies have evolved to fit almost every area and of habitat. From desert to pine forest; from grassland to chaparral.
The cottontail is a small herbivore, mostly diurnal, which feeds on grasses, weeds, and a wide variety of small plants. As a prey species for almost every predator, it is very important in the food chain.
Females may produce four to five litters per year, with an average litter consisting of four to five young. The average life span of a cottontail is less than two years.
Jackrabbit
Scientific Name: Lepus californicus
Jackrabbits are adapted to most environments within the southwest, but prefer open, semi-shrubby areas. Both species are herbivores and are preyed upon by all larger predators, including hawks, eagles, and owls.
The Jackrabbit young are born furred, in contrast to the naked cottontail young. Two young are born in each of about four litters per year.
The Blacktailed jackrabbit is a large hare with very long, black-tipped ears and long, powerful hind legs. Usually gray with a black tail and white under parts. Weight from five to eight pounds.
Allen's jackrabbit is a large hare with ears even larger than the Blacktailed jackrabbit. The ears do not have black tips. This variety is gray, with white under parts and white patches on the sides which "flash" as it runs.
Unlike many North American mammals, Jack Rabbits have increased their range due to human changes to the landscape. Decreases in predator populations, increases in cultivation, and overgrazing have created conditions ideal for this hare to exploit. They prefer open areas that offer grasses and forbs to eat and scattered shrubs to hid under. Open country also offers ideal escape terrain; when pursued they can sprint up to 35 miles per hour interspersed with 20-foot leaps.
Jacks spend the day in shallow depressions dug under shrubs or near clumps of grass. They cope with high desert temperatures by dissipating heat through their large ears; ear vein dilation releases a third of their body heat. Feeding occurs at dawn and dusk. They obtain most of their water from their food.
American Pika
Scientific Name: Ochotona
A guinea-pig-sized relative of the rabbit, Pikas inhabit mountain ranges of the western U.S. and endure some of the nastiest weather in the lower 48 states.
Pikas have a piping call and are often seen on talus slopes foraging for food and scampering around. They have a very high metabolism, most likely an adaptation to the cold of their high elevation home. But this works against the little critter in warm weather, when it's vulnerable to overheating. However, its large ears help to dissipate the heat. Because they are so well adapted to the cold, they are virtually prisoners of their environment, unable to live at lower, warmer elevations.
American Pikas are solitary creatures that jealously guard their territory, coming together only to mate. Females usually raise two litters per year, and the young are weaned and out of the nest within four weeks.
Pikas live in crevices and tunnels in the talus, which protects them from predators like weasels and bears, and, under an insulating layer of deep snow, traps enough heat to keep pikas alive. A winter with too little snow can prove deadly to pikas.
Because they don't hibernate, pikas spend much of the summer collecting food for the winter. They leave hay piles, caches of grass gathered from nearby meadows, to dry in the sun before dragging them inside their tunnels for storage.
Photos
Notes
- The main photo on this page was taken in Saguaro National Park East.
- We have heard pika in many locations, but were unable to spot them. But, we have seen them above Silver Lake in Big Cottonwood Canyon in the Wasatch Mountains, on the Aquarius Plateau, in Cascade Canyon in Grand Teton National Park, and at a few other locations.
- Of course, we have seen cottontails and jackrabbits all over the West.
Related Sites
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