arctic hare

Arctic explorer John Ross described the Arctic hare in 1819. The leverets stay within the mother's home range until they can survive on their own. It allows them to be able to run on top of the snow rather than sinking in it. The Arctic hare is one of the largest living lagomorphs.

Appearance: White, some brown depending on location and season.. How do Arctic Hares forage? They sport thick fur and enjoy a low surface area to volume ratio that conserves body heat, most evident in their shortened ears. The Arctic hare survives with shortened ears and limbs, a small nose, fat that makes up close to 20% of its body, and a thick coat of fur. [5] Arctic hares feed primarily on woody plants, and willow constitutes 95 percent of their diet year-round. A detailed study of arctic wolf diet was carried out by Dalerum et al. However, there are very few types of prey for the predators out there. Animals pair off and define mating territories, though a male may take more than one female partner. Location: Arctic. It usually digs holes in the ground or under snow to keep warm and to sleep. They weigh from 9 to 12 pounds and they are usually about 22 inches long.

As they find a mate they will create a location for the pair. Arctic hares look like rabbits but have shorter ears, are taller when standing and, unlike rabbits, can thrive in extreme cold. They can spend many hours per day finding food. The legs are long and they are very powerful.

© 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, © 2015- It is able to survive in freezing cold temperatures due to a very thick coat that offers it warmth. April and May are the months for mating. They will stay with their mother for only the first few weeks of life. They are larger and mature faster than other species of Hares. The average lifespan of the Arctic Hare is 3 to 5 years. They can use their paws to pick up food and eat it or they can use their mouth alone to complete the process. It is one of the few animals in the world that is able to survive in such cold conditions of the Arctic.

Shortened ears and thick, white fur are among the physical traits that arctic hares have adapted to survive in the harsh, frozen tundra. A liter of young is around 6. Woody plants, berries, grass, leaves, and small insects are what the Arctic Hare consumes. During winter, the coats are snow white and provide excellent camouflage, but towards spring, the color changes to blue-gray to match vegetation and local rocks. They have their eyes open and a full body of fur to keep them well protected.

They will consume what they can get access to. Alaska, Greenland, and Canada are the regions where the Arctic Hare is found. It is able to survive in freezing cold temperatures due to a very thick coat that offers it warmth. 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T41274A10410937.en, Ukaliq: the Arctic Hare, Eat and Be Eaten, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arctic_hare&oldid=983367148, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 13 October 2020, at 20:57. (1991). The young are born in the late part of spring or the early part of summer. These color changes allow the Arctic Hare to be able to blend in well with their surroundings. In winter, they sport a brilliant white coat that provides excellent camouflage in the land of ice and snow. Typically, this species measures from 43 to 70 cm (17 to 28 in) long, not counting a tail length of 4.5 to 10 cm (1.8 to 3.9 in). The body mass of this species is typically between 2.5–5.5 kg (6–12 lb), though large individuals can weigh up to 7 kg (15 lb). Like other hares and rabbits, arctic hares are fast and can bound at speeds of up to 40 miles an hour. [5] Arctic hares predominantly consume saxifrage, crowberry, and dwarf willow, but can also eat a variety of other foods, including lichens and mosses, blooms, other species' leaves, twigs and roots, mountain sorrel and macroalgae (seaweed). https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/a/arctic-hare.html. Your contribution will be appreciated to improve our site. Photograph by Jim Brandenburg, Minden Pictures/Nat Geo Image Collection. I probably battled 10 arctic fox kit groups and found 5 rare arctic hares.

[5] Arctic hares do not fare well in captivity, living only a year and a half at most. [5], Known predators of the Arctic hare are the Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus), Red fox (Vulpes vulpes), Wolf (Canis lupus), Mountain lion (Puma concolor), Lynx (Lynx canadensis), Ermine (Mustela erminea), Snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus), Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus), Rough-legged hawk (Buteo lagopus) – and occasionally humans. The Arctic hare (Lepus arcticus) is a species of hare which is highly adapted to living in the Arctic tundra, and other icy biomes. Dispersion of introduced Arctic hares (Lepus arcticus) on islands off Newfoundland's south coast. The feet are much larger than the legs and there is a reason for that. They can travel together with many other hares, sometimes huddling with dozens or more, but are usually found alone, sometimes taking more than one partner. They do have a tail but it is very small and hard to see if you aren’t looking closely for it. The content in this site was created from the following resources. [5] The Arctic hare is well adapted to conditions found in the tundras, plateaus and treeless coasts of this region, including cold weather and frozen precipitation. They are able to dig so that they can create holes underground to live in.

It is believed that they are able to do so in order to get warmth from so many bodies in close proximity. [5][8] Arctic hare diets are more diverse in summer, but still primarily willow, dryas and grasses. However, they have been seen in groups. [10] Gyrfalcon carry hares to their nests, cutting them in half first; gyrfalcons use hare bones and feet in the structure of their nests on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut. These hares sometimes dig shelters in snow and huddle together to share warmth. They are very fast runners with a top speed of up to 40 miles per hour for short periods of time. However, experts don’t believe that they gather to socialize on any other level. These hares do not hibernate, but survive the dangerous cold with a number of behavioral and physiological adaptations. Most of the time the Arctic Hare lives alone. [5] They eat snow to get water. They have an excellent sense of smell that allows them to dig for food under the cover of snow. 2020 National Geographic Partners, LLC. Arctic hares can clock speeds of up to 40 miles an hour thanks to the taller hind legs that make the animals slightly larger than rabbits. [10], Four groups of parasites have been known to use Arctic hares as a host: protozoans (Eimeria exigua, E. magna, E. perforans, and E. sculpta); nematodes (including Filaria and Oxyuris ambigua); lice (including Haemodipsus lyriocephalus and H. setoni) and fleas (including Hoplopsyllus glacialis, Euhoplopsyllus glacialis, and Megabothris groenlandicus. Diet: Leaves, woody plants, willow, lichens, mosses, blooms, grasses, roots, seaweed.. ERRORS in the site, please contact us. Students and teachers are allowed to use this information for school projects and homework. The arctic hare lives in the harsh environment of the North American tundra.

(2018). In spring, the hare's colors change to blue-gray in approximation of local rocks and vegetation. Yet in the summer they can be gray or brown.

Conservation status: Least Concern. They rely on being able to burrow under the ground to get away from various types of predators. Arctic hares look like rabbits but have shorter ears, are taller when standing and, unlike rabbits, can thrive in extreme cold. They are larger and mature faster than other species of Hares. [9], There is little information on the lifespan of Arctic hares.

Unlike many mammals, arctic hare groups disperse rather than form during mating season. [5], Hares can have up to eight babies, called leverets. [10] Peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) also prey on Arctic hares in the southern end of the hares' range.

Why Is The Liberty Bell Important, Lincoln Park Conservatory Wedding Cost, Kwon Alexander Brother, Buttermilk Trail Map Richmond Va, Scott Pilgrim Vs The World Google Drive, Elephant 3d Model, Similarweb Clickstream, Rls Legacy 3d Model, When Did The Florida Spectacled Bear Go Extinct, Diapsid Dinosaur, Peter Crouch T-shirt, Mahmoud Hamzy, Whistler Bike Park Prices, Axanthic Ball Python, Police Story 2013 Full Movie, Mule Vs Donkey, 1993 Nrl Grand Final Highlights, Ravens Vs Giants History, Nerodia Cyclopion, Julianne Bond Dr Katz, Miami University Hockey Roster, Django Unchained Meaning, Phelsuma Madagascariensis For Sale, White Flower,