Snowshoe Hare (Lepus americanus)


Group	Rabbits and Hares
Code	AMAEB03010
Order	Lagomorpha
Family	Leporidae
Author	Erxleben, 1777
Rank	G5 (definitions)
Occurrence	P (definitions)
Scale	C (definitions)

County List:


Western UP	all
Eastern UP	all
Northern LP	all
Southern LP	Eaton, Ingham, Barry, Saginaw, Sanilac, Muskegon, Ottawa, Montcalm, Oakland, Livingston, Kent

Rule:

Forested or Mixed Forested/Nonforested Landscapes

Habitat Requirements may be distributed across the COMPARTMENT

1st alternative:
      (Aspen (Regen))
      or (Paper Birch (Regen))
   neighboring:
      (Spruce/Fir (Regen or Uneven))
      or (Jack Pine (Regen or Uneven))
      or (Red Pine (Regen))
      or (White Pine (Regen))
      or (Conifer Plantations (Regen))
      or (Mixed Upland Conifers (Regen or Uneven))
      or (Mixed Pine (Regen))
   neighboring:
      (Any Lowland Conifer (Regen or Sap or Uneven))
      or (Mixed Lowland Conifer (Regen or Sap or Uneven))
      or Lowland Brush
      or Treed Bog

2nd alternative:
      (Spruce/Fir (Any Size Class))
      or (Jack Pine (Any Size Class))
      or (Mixed Upland Conifers (Any Size Class))
   containing:
     Stand/Gap Openings
   neighboring:
      (Any Lowland Conifer (Any Size Class))
      or (Mixed Lowland Conifer (Any Size Class))
   containing:
      Stand/Gap Openings

3rd alternative
      (Spruce/Fir (Any Size Class))
      or (Jack Pine (Any Size Class))
      or (Mixed Upland Conifers (Any Size Class))
   containing:
     Stand/Gap Openings
   adjacent to:
      (Lowland Brush or Treed Bog)

4th alternative:
      (Any Lowland Conifer (Regen or Sap or Uneven))
      or (Mixed Lowland Conifer (Regen or Sap or Uneven))
   containing:
      Stand/Gap Openings
   adjacent to:
      (Lowland Brush or Edge)

view decision rule term definitions

Habitat List:

Habitats	Regen	Sap	Pole	Sm Saw	Lg Saw	Uneven
Aspen	YES	no	no	no	no	-
Paper Birch	YES	no	no	no	no	-
Oak	no	no	no	no	no	no
Assorted Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Northern Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Spruce/Fir	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Hemlock	no	no	no	no	no	no
Jack Pine	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Red Pine	YES	no	no	no	no	no
White Pine	YES	no	no	no	no	no
Conifer Plantations	YES	no	no	no	no	-
Mixed Upland Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Mixed Northern Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Mixed Upland Conifer	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Mixed Pine	YES	no	no	no	no	no
Swamp Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Balsam Poplar & Swamp Aspen & Swamp Birch	no	no	no	no	no	no
Bottomland Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Tamarack	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Northern White Cedar	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Black Spruce	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Mixed Lowland Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Mixed Lowland Conifer	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Non-Forested	Lowland Brush, Treed Bog
Special Features	Edges, Stand (Gap) Openings

view size class definitions

Literature:

Kurta, A. 1995. Mammals of the Great Lakes Region. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor. 376 pp.
The snowshoe hare prefers heavily forested areas with a dense understory and avoids habitats dominated by humans. It thrives in coniferous and mixed woods, is less common in northern hardwood forests, and is particularly at home in low-lying situations such as cedar bogs and spruce swamps.

This hare remains in dense cover during the day and ventures into forest clearings for feeding only at night. Summer foods include grasses and clovers, along with dandelion, aster, strawberry, ferns, and even horsetails; it also eats the young leaves of aspen, willow, and birch. Winter foods include the bark, twigs, and buds of woody plants, such as maple, willow, poplar, and hazelnut, as well as the needles of most conifers. Unlike our other leporids, the snowshoe hare is a meat eater, occasionally scavenging from the carcass of a deer or another hare.

DeGraaf, R. M. and D. D. Rudis. 1986. New England wildlife: habitat, natural history, and distribution. GTR NE-108. Broomall, PA:USDA, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 491 pp.
Habitat: Deciduous, coniferous, and mixed woodlands (less often deciduous) with dense brushy understory, coniferous swamps, cut-over areas, burns, nearly all types of forests, but favors second growth aspen-birch in vicinity of conifers. In eastern Maine, hares showed a significant shift in activity from coniferous understory in winter to hardwood understory in summer.

Special Habitat Requirements: Dense brushy cover.

Baker, R. H. 1983. Michigan Mammals. Michigan State University Press, East Lansing, MI. 642 pp.
Distribution: In Michigan today, the snowshoe hare occurs in most parts of the Upper Peninsula and in the northern half of the Lower Peninsula. In the colonial period the snowshoe rabbit was probably found throughout much of the southern part of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, with populations chiefly concentrated in the vicinity of swampy areas covered with stands of evergreen trees.

Habitat Preferences: The snowshoe hare is a characteristic mammal of Michigan's Canadian Biotic Province. The species seems to thrive best in areas having overhead woody protection, which is partly coniferous. Snowshoe hares are probably attracted mostly to northern swamps shaded by white cedar and black spruce. They also use patchy bracken and brushy understory in spruce-fir woodlands and pine plantations. The animals withdraw from areas ecologically changed or radically disturbed by human activities. However, if such areas are allowed to revert or are planted with conifers, snowshoe hares will become re-established. According to Bookout, the swamp conifer environment is the preferred habitat for the snowshoe hare in Michigan. To a lesser extent the alder swamp is also used, followed by aspen-balsam fir and paper birch. Bookout noted that northern hardwood stands and grassy openings are little used by snowshoe hares. The snowshoe hare like the eastern cottontail, likes the transition (edge) between two of its favored habitats, with well-worn connecting runways. The effects of fire on snowshoe hare range are not clearly known, although fire-induced plant successions probably increase food supplies.

Density and Movements: Snowshoe hare populations are, of course, responsive to the quality of their environments. In Michigan, food, cover, and other life essentials seem most available to hares in swamp conifer habitat with adjacent alder swamp and mixed evergreen-deciduous forest with brushy understory.

Food Habits: Green plant growth in summer and buds, twigs, bark, and conifer needles (leaves) in winter are standard fare for the snowshoe hare.