Washington’s diverse ecosystems—from coastal rainforests to arid shrublands—provide homes for six distinct lagomorph species. These rabbits and hares have adapted to everything from suburban backyards to remote mountain slopes, each filling unique ecological niches across the Evergreen State.
Understanding these species helps you appreciate the remarkable biodiversity found throughout Washington’s varied landscapes.
Mountain Cottontail
The mountain cottontail (Sylvilagus nuttallii), also known as Nuttall’s cottontail, represents one of Washington’s two native rabbit species. This gray or brownish-gray rabbit thrives in the sagebrush country of eastern Washington, where it has adapted to the region’s semi-arid conditions. Unlike its introduced eastern cousin that dominates urban areas, this native species prefers the wide-open spaces characteristic of the Columbia Basin.
Physical characteristics and identification
Mountain cottontails display distinctive features that set them apart from other Washington rabbits. They average 14 inches in length with relatively short, inconspicuous white tails—less prominent than the fluffy white “cotton balls” of eastern cottontails. Their gray to brownish-gray coloration provides excellent camouflage against sagebrush and rocky terrain. A particularly striking feature is the cinnamon-colored ring around each eye, which helps distinguish them from eastern cottontails in areas where both species occur.
These medium-sized rabbits weigh between 675 and 1,000 grams (approximately 1.5 to 2.2 pounds), making them slightly smaller than eastern cottontails. Their black-tipped ears remain alert and mobile, constantly scanning for threats in the exposed sagebrush habitat they call home. The Burke Museum notes their total length ranges from 35 to 40 centimeters, with tails measuring 4 to 5 centimeters.
Habitat and distribution
Mountain cottontails inhabit sagebrush areas, weed patches, tall-grass regions, and orchards throughout eastern Washington. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife confirms they’re found east of the Cascade Mountains, where they’ve adapted to the Columbia Basin’s shrub-steppe environment. These rabbits prefer areas with good ground cover for protection while remaining close to feeding areas.
Their range extends throughout much of the western United States, but in Washington they occupy primarily the eastern portion of the state where sagebrush and similar vegetation dominates. Unlike eastern cottontails that readily adapt to human-modified landscapes, mountain cottontails remain creatures of more natural, undeveloped habitats. You’ll rarely spot them in urban settings—they prefer the authentic sagebrush steppe that characterizes much of central and eastern Washington.
Diet and behavior
Mountain cottontails maintain herbivorous diets that shift with seasonal availability. During spring and summer, they consume grass, clover, wildflowers, weeds, and various herbaceous plants. Their winter diet becomes more restricted, focusing on twigs, bark, conifer needles, and any available green vegetation. What makes mountain cottontails particularly unique among plant-eating animals is their ability to consume sagebrush and juniper berries—plants notoriously unpalatable to most herbivores.
These rabbits exhibit crepuscular behavior patterns, showing peak activity at dawn and dusk when predator activity typically decreases and temperatures moderate. Like all lagomorphs, they practice coprophagy—re-ingesting soft fecal pellets to extract additional nutrients during a second pass through their digestive system. This adaptation proves especially valuable when feeding on low-nutrient sagebrush vegetation.
Mountain cottontails create shallow, bowl-like nests called “forms” lined with leaves, grass, and fur plucked from their own bellies. The breeding season runs from mid-February through late summer, with females producing several litters annually. Each litter contains four to eight young that remain blind and helpless for approximately two weeks. Mothers stay away from nests most of the day to avoid attracting predators, returning only at dawn and dusk to nurse.
Predators and survival
Mountain cottontails face predation from numerous species adapted to eastern Washington’s open habitats. Coyotes, bobcats, foxes, hawks, owls, and eagles all prey on these rabbits, taking advantage of the relatively sparse cover in sagebrush country. Their primary defense strategy involves remaining motionless when threatened, relying on camouflage coloration to avoid detection. When pursued, they employ rapid, zigzagging runs to confuse predators.
Their eyes shine yellow or red when caught in flashlight beams at night, making them conspicuous to both human observers and nocturnal predators. This eyeshine results from a reflective layer behind the retina that enhances vision in low-light conditions—an adaptation for their crepuscular lifestyle.
Conservation and hunting status
Mountain cottontails maintain stable populations throughout much of their Washington range. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife classifies them as game animals, requiring a valid hunting license and adherence to open seasons. Property owners may kill or trap cottontails damaging crops or domestic animals without permits when using live cage traps, though special permits are required for other trap types.
The hunting season typically runs from early September through March’s end, providing extended opportunities for small game hunters. These rabbits contribute to Washington’s outdoor recreation economy while maintaining healthy population levels. Their continued abundance depends on preserving sagebrush habitat throughout eastern Washington, though they currently face fewer conservation concerns than some other native lagomorphs in the state.
Pygmy Rabbit
The pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis) holds the distinction of being North America’s smallest rabbit species and one of Washington’s most critically endangered mammals. These diminutive lagomorphs measure only 11 inches in length and weigh less than one pound, making them remarkably tiny compared to other Washington rabbits. Their precarious status makes them a focal point of intensive conservation efforts throughout the Columbia Basin.
Physical appearance and size
Pygmy rabbits display distinctive slate-gray coloration with buff-colored tails—notably different from the white tails characteristic of cottontails. Their small, rounded ears feature white margins along the edges, providing a reliable identification feature when observing these rare rabbits. The Burke Museum documents their total length at 25 to 29 centimeters with tails measuring just 2 to 3 centimeters and masses ranging from 245 to 260 grams.
Their compact size represents an adaptation to life in dense sagebrush where maneuverability through tight spaces proves advantageous. Despite being full-grown adults, pygmy rabbits weigh less than many newborn domestic rabbits, emphasizing just how diminutive this species truly is. Their greyish-brown coloring provides excellent camouflage against the sagebrush backdrop they depend upon for survival.
Habitat requirements and range
Pygmy rabbits exhibit extreme habitat specialization, depending almost entirely on tall, dense stands of sagebrush growing in areas with deep, soft soil suitable for burrowing. Unlike other North American rabbits that use existing burrows or surface nests, pygmy rabbits dig their own elaborate burrow systems—a unique trait among the continent’s lagomorphs. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife reports these rabbits are found in dense sagebrush and rabbitbrush areas of south-central Washington.
Historically, pygmy rabbits occupied portions of Douglas, Grant, Lincoln, Adams, and Benton counties during the first half of the 1900s. By the late 1980s, only five small colonies remained in southern Douglas County, with a sixth discovered in Grant County in 1997. By 2001, the situation had become dire—only one population containing as few as 16 individuals remained, bringing the species to the brink of local extinction.
The Columbia Basin population represents a Distinct Population Segment under the Federal Endangered Species Act due to genetic isolation from other pygmy rabbit populations spanning Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Washington’s pygmy rabbits have lived separately from the rest of their species’ range for an estimated 10,000 to 115,000 years, developing unique genetic characteristics during their isolation.
Diet and unique behaviors
Pygmy rabbits maintain the most specialized diet of any Washington lagomorph. During winter months, they feed almost exclusively on sagebrush, a plant most herbivores find unpalatable due to its strong volatile compounds and low nutritional value. This dietary specialization makes them obligate sagebrush species—they cannot thrive without access to extensive sagebrush stands. In spring and summer, they diversify their diet by adding grasses, particularly native bunchgrasses, and various herbs.
Their burrow systems serve multiple purposes beyond shelter. These underground networks provide protection from predators, thermal refuge from extreme temperatures, and safe locations for raising young. Burrows typically feature multiple entrances and exits, allowing quick escapes when predators approach. The soft soil requirement for successful burrowing represents a critical limiting factor for pygmy rabbit distribution—they cannot establish populations in areas with shallow, rocky, or compacted soils.
Pygmy rabbits prefer gentle slopes where they can excavate burrows while maintaining proximity to dense sagebrush cover. They remain relatively sedentary compared to other lagomorphs, with small home ranges centered around their burrow systems. This limited dispersal ability makes habitat fragmentation particularly devastating for the species.
Conservation status and recovery efforts
Pygmy rabbits carry both State Endangered and Federal Species of Concern designations, reflecting their precarious conservation status. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recognizes the Columbia Basin population as endangered, with multiple compounding threats pushing the species toward regional extinction.
Primary threats include:
- Habitat loss and fragmentation from land conversion to agriculture and development
- Invasive species displacing native sagebrush vegetation
- Wildfire increasing in frequency and severity due to climate change
- Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus 2 (RHDV2) posing new disease threats
The devastating Pearl Hill Fire of 2020 burned hundreds of thousands of acres, destroying one of three recovery areas completely and killing an estimated half of the wild pygmy rabbit population. This catastrophic event wiped out years of painstaking conservation work in a matter of days.
Recovery efforts involve collaboration among multiple organizations including the Oregon Zoo, Washington State University, Northwest Trek, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. After failed reintroduction attempts in 2007, the program pivoted strategies. Since 2011, thousands of captive-bred pygmy rabbits have been released into suitable Washington sagebrush habitat. Conservation Northwest’s Sagelands Heritage Program works to maintain, restore, and protect the shrub-steppe landscape essential for recovery.
Despite intensive efforts, fewer than 50 pygmy rabbits existed in south-central Washington as of recent counts—a number that underscores the species’ tenuous grip on survival. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife notes that pygmy rabbits cannot be hunted or trapped under any circumstances due to their protected status.
Eastern Cottontail – introduced
The eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) stands as Washington’s most commonly observed rabbit, despite being a non-native species. Introduced beginning in the 1930s as a game animal, this adaptable rabbit has thrived in human-modified landscapes throughout the state. From urban Seattle neighborhoods to rural farmlands, eastern cottontails have become so widespread that many residents assume they’re native to the Pacific Northwest.
Introduction history and spread
Eastern cottontails were deliberately introduced to several Washington locations starting in the 1930s as a game species for hunting. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife documents these introductions occurring across multiple sites, with stock possibly originating from Missouri, Ohio, and Illinois. Animals released near Battle Ground in 1933 may have served as source populations for cottontails now abundant in the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area.
The species adapted remarkably well to Washington’s climate and available habitats. Unlike native mountain cottontails that remain restricted to sagebrush country, eastern cottontails colonized diverse environments including suburban neighborhoods, city parks, brushy fencerows, blackberry thickets, agricultural edges, forest clearings, and landscaped areas. According to wildlife biologist Aaron Wirsing of the University of Washington, Seattle offers a “bunny nirvana” with its ideal combination of protective cover and abundant food from gardens and lawns.
The species has experienced population booms in recent years, particularly in the Puget Sound region. Milder winters, reduced predator pressure in urban environments, and proliferating habitat fragments have all contributed to their dramatic success. Eastern cottontails now represent the brown rabbits you commonly see in city parks and backyards throughout western Washington.
Physical characteristics
Eastern cottontails average 17 inches in length, making them larger than native mountain cottontails. They display light brown coloration on their backs and sides, with the white underside of their 2-inch tail readily visible when running—a characteristic that inspired their common name. Many individuals feature a rust-colored patch on the nape of the neck and may show a white spot on the forehead, though this marking isn’t universal.
The Burke Museum records their measurements at 37 to 46 centimeters total length with tails of 4 to 6.5 centimeters and masses ranging from 900 to 1,800 grams (approximately 2 to 4 pounds). Their relatively large size, rust-colored nape, and prominent white tail distinguish them from mountain cottontails in areas where both species occur.
These rabbits possess large brown eyes providing excellent peripheral vision, long mobile ears that detect subtle sounds, and powerful hind legs enabling rapid acceleration and sharp turns when evading predators. Their eyes shine yellow or red in flashlight beams due to a reflective layer that enhances low-light vision during their most active periods at dawn and dusk.
Habitat adaptability and distribution
Eastern cottontails demonstrate remarkable habitat flexibility—a key factor in their successful colonization of Washington. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife notes they’re commonly seen along roads, brushy fencerows, and blackberry thickets in and around areas where they were introduced. They thrive in mixed habitats offering both protective cover and open feeding areas.
Preferred habitats include:
- Urban and suburban landscapes with gardens, lawns, and ornamental plantings
- Brushy fencerows and field edges providing escape cover near feeding areas
- Blackberry thickets and bramble patches offering dense protective shelter
- Parks and golf courses with mowed areas adjacent to shrubby borders
- Agricultural lands with crop fields near woody vegetation
- Forest edges and clearings where openings meet wooded cover
Unlike mountain cottontails requiring relatively undisturbed sagebrush habitat, eastern cottontails are synanthropic species—animals that thrive in close association with humans and human-modified environments. As long as lawns and hedgerows provide the combination of food and cover, eastern cottontails flourish even in highly urbanized settings. Wildlife biologist Wirsing explains that cottontails don’t require large pockets of green space—small gardens and yard fragments suffice for their needs.
Diet and foraging
Eastern cottontails maintain herbivorous diets that vary seasonally. From spring through fall, they consume grass, clover, wildflowers, weeds, farm crops, and garden vegetables—often becoming unwelcome visitors in residential gardens. Their winter diet shifts to buds, twigs, bark, and conifer needles as green vegetation becomes scarce. They obtain most water needs directly from consumed vegetation, though they’ll drink from available water sources when necessary.
These rabbits feed primarily during dawn and dusk hours, venturing from protective cover into open areas when predator activity decreases. In urban environments with reduced predation pressure, they may feed more boldly throughout daylight hours. Their efficient digestive systems extract maximum nutrition through coprophagy—eating specialized soft fecal pellets to reclaim nutrients that passed through incompletely during initial digestion.
Garden damage from eastern cottontails frustrates many Washington residents. The Washington State University Extension notes these rabbits can become serious pests in orchards, yards, and gardens. Their sharp incisor teeth make characteristic angled cuts on young stems and create distinctive gnaw marks on tree bark, making damage easily attributable to rabbits.
Reproduction and population dynamics
Eastern cottontails rank among nature’s most prolific breeders. The breeding season begins in mid-February and continues through late summer, with famous reproductive capacity that includes 30-day gestation periods and several litters of four to eight young each year. Females can breed again immediately after giving birth, maximizing reproductive output during favorable seasons.
Mothers create shallow ground nests called “forms” lined with leaves, grass, and fur plucked from their bellies. These nests remain remarkably well-concealed even in suburban lawns, making them vulnerable to lawnmowers and weed-eaters. For about two weeks, mothers stay away from nests during daylight to avoid revealing nest locations to predators, returning only at dawn and dusk to nurse and clean their young.
Young cottontails develop rapidly, opening their eyes within days and leaving nests after just a few weeks. This rapid maturation combined with high reproductive rates enables populations to grow quickly when conditions favor them. The recent population boom in Puget Sound reflects cottontails’ boom-or-bust population dynamics—milder winters enhance juvenile survival, the key limiting demographic factor for rabbit populations.
However, boom periods eventually face natural regulation. As rabbit numbers increase, predator populations of coyotes, raptors, and other hunters typically increase in response. Disease outbreaks and harsh winters can crash populations. Wildlife experts note these boom-bust cycles represent normal patterns for cottontail populations.
Management and human conflicts
Eastern cottontails’ success in human-dominated landscapes inevitably creates conflicts. Garden damage, landscape destruction, and concerns about disease transmission prompt many property owners to seek management solutions. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife classifies eastern cottontails as game animals, allowing hunting with appropriate licenses during open seasons typically running from early September through March.
Non-lethal management strategies include:
- Fencing with 2-foot tall, 1-inch mesh chicken wire buried 6 inches underground
- Habitat modification by removing brush piles and dense cover near gardens
- Plant selection focusing on rabbit-resistant species like lavender, mint, yarrow, and various aromatic herbs
- Repellents applied to vulnerable plants during active feeding periods
- Scare tactics using motion-activated sprinklers or noise devices (though effectiveness diminishes over time)
Property owners experiencing crop or domestic animal damage may kill or trap cottontails without permits when using live cage traps. However, transporting wild rabbits without proper permits remains unlawful in Washington. Single or double-door wire live traps measuring 9 inches high, 9 inches wide, and 26 inches long effectively capture cottontails when baited with fresh vegetables in summer or apples, carrots, and bread in winter.
Despite being non-native, eastern cottontails now form integral parts of Washington’s ecosystems, serving as important prey for native predators including foxes, coyotes, bobcats, hawks, and owls. Their role supporting predator populations may provide some ecological value offsetting concerns about their introduced status.
Snowshoe Hare
The snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) represents Washington’s most widespread native hare species, inhabiting forested mountains and thickets from the Cascades westward and in mountainous regions of eastern Washington. Unlike true rabbits that give birth to helpless young, hares produce fully furred, open-eyed leverets capable of hopping within hours of birth. Snowshoe hares are best known for their remarkable seasonal color change and their distinctive large, furry feet that inspired their common name.
Physical characteristics and seasonal changes
Snowshoe hares display dark brown coloration with tails that range from dusky to white on the underside. Their most distinctive feature—ears with black tips—provides a reliable identification marker year-round. Adult snowshoe hares weigh between just under two pounds to slightly over three pounds, with the Burke Museum documenting total lengths of 38 to 52 centimeters and masses of 900 to 1,400 grams.
Their truly remarkable adaptation involves seasonal color changes in response to photoperiod (day length) and temperature cues. In western Washington’s relatively mild climate, many snowshoe hares remain brown year-round. However, in snowy mountain regions and areas east of the Cascades, individuals transform to all white or white mottled with brown during winter months, providing camouflage against snow-covered landscapes. This molt reverses in spring, with hares returning to brown summer pelage.
The large hind feet of snowshoe hares feature well-furred soles, especially pronounced in winter—an adaptation functioning like natural snowshoes that distribute weight and prevent sinking in deep snow. These oversized feet enable snowshoe hares to travel efficiently across snow surfaces where predators might flounder. Juvenile snowshoe hares possess much coarser hair than young eastern cottontails, providing another identification feature when distinguishing between species.
Habitat and distribution
Snowshoe hares inhabit forests, thickets, swamps, and mountainous areas throughout appropriate elevations in Washington. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife documents their range extending throughout the Cascades and western Washington, plus mountainous regions of eastern Washington. They prefer dense forest understory with abundant cover, particularly favoring young conifer thickets with lower branches touching the ground, interspersed with small clearings vegetated by grasses and forbs.
Western Washington residents most commonly encounter snowshoe hares during early morning summer hikes in the Cascades, where these hares emerge to feed in mountain meadows and forest clearings. Their preference for dense cover makes them less visible than cottontails, though their numbers may be substantial even in areas where they’re rarely observed.
Snowshoe hares avoid the completely open habitats favored by jackrabbits, instead requiring the security of nearby woody cover. Forest edges, regenerating clearcuts with shrubby growth, riparian zones with dense willows, and subalpine areas with scattered tree clumps all provide suitable habitat. They thrive in the Pacific Northwest’s moist forests where dense understory vegetation flourishes.
Diet and behavior
Snowshoe hares maintain herbivorous diets focused on woody browse, particularly during winter months when ground vegetation lies buried under snow. They feed on twigs, bark, buds from various shrubs and trees, grasses, forbs, and green vegetation when available. Winter browse includes willows, birches, aspens, and various conifer species. Summer diets expand to include grasses, herbaceous plants, and leafy vegetation growing in forest clearings.
Like all lagomorphs, snowshoe hares practice coprophagy to maximize nutrient extraction from their plant-based diet. This proves especially important when feeding on low-nutrition woody browse during winter months.
Snowshoe hares exhibit crepuscular activity patterns, showing peak movement during dawn and dusk. Unlike rabbits that create ground nests, snowshoe hares don’t build nests or burrows because their young arrive fully developed and capable of independent movement shortly after birth. Adults rest during daylight hours in simple “forms”—shallow depressions under logs, in thick brush, or beneath low-hanging branches.
These hares remain largely solitary except during breeding seasons. They’re less territorial than rabbits, with home ranges often overlapping. When threatened, snowshoe hares freeze initially, relying on camouflage for protection. If detected, they bound away in powerful leaps, using their oversized hind feet to rapidly accelerate and execute sharp turns through dense vegetation.
Reproduction and life history
Snowshoe hares demonstrate the prolific breeding typical of lagomorphs. The breeding season spans April through August, with females producing two to three litters annually. Each litter contains one to seven young—smaller litter sizes than cottontails but compensated by the leverets’ advanced development at birth.
Unlike helpless rabbit kits born blind and hairless, snowshoe hare leverets arrive fully furred with eyes open and can hop within hours. This precocial development represents a key difference between true rabbits and hares. Mothers still provide maternal care through nursing, but leverets don’t require the extended helpless period characteristic of rabbit young. This advanced development at birth improves survival odds in the hare’s predator-rich environment.
Gestation lasts approximately 37 days. Females can breed again immediately after giving birth, allowing rapid succession of litters during favorable seasons. Young reach independence relatively quickly compared to rabbits, with maternal care periods abbreviated due to the leverets’ advanced initial capabilities.
Predators and population cycles
Snowshoe hares serve as critical prey for numerous predators throughout their range. Lynx, coyotes, foxes, bobcats, great-horned owls, red-tailed hawks, and northern goshawks all hunt snowshoe hares extensively. In fact, the Canada lynx depends so heavily on snowshoe hares that lynx populations fluctuate in concert with hare abundance—a textbook example of predator-prey population cycling studied extensively by ecologists.
Snowshoe hare populations exhibit famous roughly 10-year boom-and-bust cycles throughout much of their range, with peak abundances followed by dramatic crashes. These cycles correlate with predation pressure, food availability, and stress-related factors. While cycling patterns are well-documented in northern regions, Washington populations may show less pronounced fluctuations.
When caught by predators, snowshoe hares can emit high-pitched distress calls. Their primary defense strategy combines camouflage (whether brown summer pelage or white winter coat), freezing behavior, and explosive acceleration when detected. Their large feet provide excellent traction for quick changes in direction while running through dense vegetation.
Management and conservation
Snowshoe hares maintain healthy populations throughout suitable Washington habitats and face no immediate conservation concerns. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife classifies them as game animals, allowing hunting with appropriate licenses during open seasons. However, harvest levels remain relatively low compared to cottontails due to snowshoe hares’ preference for dense cover in mountainous terrain—habitat less accessible to most hunters.
Forest management practices impact snowshoe hare populations significantly. Clearcutting creates excellent habitat during early successional stages when dense shrubs and young conifers provide optimal cover. As forests mature and canopy closure eliminates understory vegetation, hare habitat quality declines. Maintaining forest age diversity across landscapes helps ensure persistent snowshoe hare populations.
Climate change poses potential long-term threats to snowshoe hares, particularly regarding the timing and extent of their seasonal color change. If warming trends reduce snowpack while hares still molt to white winter pelage, the camouflage advantage disappears—white hares become conspicuous against brown backgrounds. Research on how snowshoe hares adapt to changing snow conditions remains ongoing.
White-tailed Jackrabbit
The white-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus townsendii) once ranged abundantly across eastern Washington’s bunchgrass communities but now exists as a rare and sparsely distributed species. This large hare—about two feet long and averaging eight pounds—has experienced dramatic population declines attributed to habitat loss, degradation, fragmentation, and possibly disease and competition. Their current rarity makes any sighting noteworthy enough that the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife requests observations to track remaining populations.
Physical appearance and size
White-tailed jackrabbits display grayish-brown coloration throughout most of the year, with long ears featuring black tips and white tails that inspired their common name. As Washington’s largest hare species, they measure approximately two feet in total length with the Burke Museum documenting lengths of 56 to 66 centimeters and masses of 2.5 to 4 kilograms (roughly 5.5 to 8.8 pounds). Females are larger in body size than males—an unusual pattern among mammals where males typically exceed females in size.
Like snowshoe hares, white-tailed jackrabbits undergo seasonal color changes in portions of their range. In Washington, they typically remain grayish-brown year-round or show only partial whitening during winter. In more northern portions of their range extending into Canadian provinces, individuals molt to completely white winter pelage for camouflage against snow. Their large size and distinctive white tail readily distinguish them from black-tailed jackrabbits when both species occur in the same areas.
Historical and current distribution
White-tailed jackrabbits once flourished across the prairies and bunchgrass communities of eastern Washington. Historical accounts document abundant populations utilizing the extensive native grasslands that characterized the Columbia Basin and other eastern Washington regions. However, conversion of native grasslands to agriculture, urban development, and other land uses decimated available habitat.
Today, white-tailed jackrabbits exist in small, scattered populations east of the Cascades. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife notes they’re now rare and sparsely distributed, representing one of the state’s species of greatest conservation concern. Their range once extended from the prairies of midwestern states and Canadian provinces westward to the Rocky Mountains, Cascades, and Sierra Nevada, then southward to northern Arizona and New Mexico. Washington populations now occupy only fragments of their historical state range.
In areas where white-tailed and black-tailed jackrabbit populations overlap, white-tailed jackrabbits tend to occupy higher elevations and more northern latitudes. This spatial separation may reduce competition between the two species, though habitat overlap does occur in some regions.
Habitat requirements
White-tailed jackrabbits prefer hilly, bunchgrass sites with native grassland vegetation. They occupy grassland habitats with shrub cover sometimes present, showing strong associations with bunchgrasses and rabbitbrush—vegetation types that characterized pre-settlement eastern Washington. Unlike cottontails requiring dense cover for protection, jackrabbits utilize their large size, powerful legs, and keen senses to detect and outrun predators in relatively open country.
These hares require gentle topography rather than flat expanses, favoring rolling terrain that provides visual screening while allowing escape routes. They don’t excavate burrows or use heavy cover like rabbits, instead relying on speed and alertness for survival in open habitats. Scattered shrubs provide some thermal refuge during temperature extremes but aren’t essential habitat components.
Climate change threatens white-tailed jackrabbit habitat in Washington. Warmer temperatures and reduced precipitation projected for the Columbia Basin and Okanogan Valley will likely trigger more frequent and intense fires. These could degrade or eliminate important grassland habitat while promoting cheatgrass and other invasive plants with reduced forage value. Drought conditions altering bunchgrass and rabbitbrush communities may also negatively impact this species.
Diet and foraging behavior
White-tailed jackrabbits are nocturnal herbivores feeding primarily on grasses and forbs, with shrubs providing secondary nutrition. Their diet shifts seasonally as plant availability changes. Spring and summer offer abundant green grasses and herbaceous plants, while winter diets include dried grasses, bark, twigs, and any available green vegetation. They obtain most water needs from consumed plants, an important adaptation in Washington’s semi-arid eastern regions.
These large hares require substantial food intake to maintain their body size. Their efficient digestive systems extract maximum nutrition through coprophagy, allowing them to thrive on the relatively low-quality forage available in grassland environments. Unlike pygmy rabbits with specialized sagebrush diets, white-tailed jackrabbits consume diverse plant species, adjusting diets based on seasonal and local availability.
Foraging occurs primarily during darkness when cooler temperatures reduce water loss and reduced visibility provides some protection from visual predators like hawks. Their large eyes adapted for low-light conditions enable efficient night foraging. They remain largely inactive during daylight, resting in shallow forms where they rely on camouflage coloration and vigilance for protection.
Reproduction and population dynamics
White-tailed jackrabbits breed beginning in late February, with the season extending into May. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife notes individuals may begin breeding as early as seven months of age. Females can produce up to four litters per year, with gestation periods lasting 30 to 43 days depending on environmental factors. Typical litter size is four or five young.
Females create nests from grasses and dry leaves hidden in vegetation—more elaborate structures than the simple forms used by adults for resting. As hares rather than true rabbits, young arrive fully furred with eyes open and can move about soon after birth. However, they still receive maternal care and don’t achieve full independence until approximately two months of age. Maximum longevity reaches about eight years, though few individuals survive more than a few years in the wild.
White-tailed jackrabbits tend toward more solitary behavior than other hares, though multiple individuals may occupy good habitat in proximity without strong territoriality. Their reproductive potential allows for population recovery when habitat and environmental conditions favor them, though current Washington populations remain well below historical levels.
Conservation status and threats
White-tailed jackrabbits are designated as Species of Concern by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, reflecting their diminished populations and ongoing threats. Unlike pygmy rabbits with Federal Endangered Species Act protection, white-tailed jackrabbits currently lack federal protection status. However, a special permit is required to kill them in damage control situations, providing some regulatory protection.
Primary threats include:
- Habitat loss and degradation from conversion of native grasslands to agriculture
- Habitat fragmentation breaking large grassland blocks into isolated patches
- Competition potentially from black-tailed jackrabbits and introduced cottontails
- Disease including tularemia and the emerging threat of Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus 2 (RHDV2) with an estimated 90% mortality rate
- Climate change altering grassland plant communities and increasing wildfire frequency
- Direct mortality from shooting, poisoning, and trapping, though current levels are unclear
The lack of quantitative data on white-tailed jackrabbit distribution and abundance hampers conservation efforts. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has identified the need to determine and map current distribution while investigating causes of declines. Climate modeling suggests white-tailed jackrabbit ranges may shift northward with overall range sizes declining modestly as climate warms.
Recent modeling indicates that climate change will cause the geographic range of white-tailed jackrabbits to shift northward and decline modestly in overall size. Recovery depends on preserving remaining native grassland habitats and restoring degraded bunchgrass communities throughout eastern Washington.
Black-tailed Jackrabbit
The black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus) represents another large hare species inhabiting eastern Washington’s shrublands and grasslands. While more common and widespread than white-tailed jackrabbits, black-tailed jackrabbits have also experienced population declines significant enough to earn Species of Concern status. These impressive hares with their enormous ears and powerful legs embody the classic “jackrabbit” image familiar from western landscapes.
Physical characteristics
Black-tailed jackrabbits display distinctive features that make identification straightforward when you spot one. They possess large size, long ears, and black tails—the dark tail coloration providing the species’ common name. The Burke Museum documents their total lengths at 46 to 63 centimeters with tails measuring 5 to 11 centimeters and masses ranging from 2 to 4 kilograms (approximately 4.4 to 8.8 pounds).
Their remarkably large ears serve multiple functions beyond hearing. These oversized appendages contain extensive blood vessel networks that function as biological radiators, dissipating heat during hot days characteristic of eastern Washington’s semi-arid regions. This thermoregulatory adaptation allows black-tailed jackrabbits to remain active in high temperatures that would overwhelm many mammals.
Slightly smaller than white-tailed jackrabbits but considerably larger than snowshoe hares, black-tailed jackrabbits share the elongated body proportions, powerful hind legs, and alert posture typical of hares. Their grayish-brown coloration blends well against the shrub-steppe vegetation of their preferred habitats, providing camouflage despite their size.
Distribution and habitat
Black-tailed jackrabbits rank as the most common jackrabbit in the western United States, with ranges extending from southern-central Washington to South Dakota and southward into Baja California and south-central Mexico. They’ve also been successfully introduced into various eastern states. Interestingly, historical evidence indicates black-tailed jackrabbits were not present in Washington during the early 19th century—they apparently expanded northward into the state during the late 1800s or early 1900s.
In Washington, black-tailed jackrabbit distribution concentrates in the semi-arid Columbia Plateau shrubsteppe and grassland habitats east of the Cascade Mountains, extending southward into Oregon. The Columbia Basin provides core habitat for this species within Washington.
These jackrabbits occupy habitats featuring wide temperature ranges and minimal moisture levels, including shrub-steppe, grassland, and desert environments. The presence of some shrub cover represents an important habitat feature, providing thermal refuge, protective cover, and nesting sites. Unlike cottontails requiring dense brush, jackrabbits utilize more open country while still benefiting from scattered shrub patches.
Black-tailed jackrabbits demonstrate remarkable thermoregulatory capabilities and water conservation abilities, allowing them to thrive in harsh, arid conditions. However, they show sensitivity to certain disturbance regimes, particularly wildfire that can eliminate shrubby vegetation providing essential cover and food resources.
Diet and behavior
Black-tailed jackrabbits maintain herbivorous diets that shift seasonally based on plant availability. Their diet varies throughout the year, consisting of higher percentages of shrubs in winter, forbs (non-woody flowering plants) in spring, and mostly grasses with minimal shrub consumption in summer. This dietary flexibility allows exploitation of seasonal plant growth patterns in their semi-arid habitats.
These hares feed primarily during cooler nighttime hours, avoiding midday heat stress. Their large ears not only aid thermoregulation but also provide exceptional hearing for detecting approaching predators. Combined with excellent vision and keen alertness, these senses enable early threat detection essential for survival in open habitats.
Black-tailed jackrabbits don’t construct burrows or nests for resting, instead using shallow forms scraped in soil beneath shrubs or in dense grass clumps. These simple resting spots provide minimal cover, with the hares relying primarily on camouflage coloration, immobility, and vigilance to avoid detection. When threatened, they explode into rapid, bounding runs reaching impressive speeds, using agility and endurance to outlast most predators.
Reproduction
Black-tailed jackrabbits display the high reproductive output characteristic of lagomorphs. They produce about 10 to 12 young annually, giving birth to multiple litters during a three-month breeding season. This prolific reproduction theoretically enables rapid population growth when conditions favor them.
However, survival rates for young jackrabbits remain extremely low. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife reports that only 3.5 to 9 percent of young survive to one year of age. This heavy juvenile mortality results from intense predation pressure and the challenging environmental conditions in their arid habitats. High reproductive output compensates for high mortality, allowing populations to persist despite these losses.
Females create simple nests from grass and vegetation for giving birth, though the precocial young can move about shortly after birth. Like other hares, leverets arrive fully furred with eyes open, representing a more advanced developmental state than rabbit kits. This early mobility improves survival chances in exposed jackrabbit habitat where helpless young would be highly vulnerable.
Predators and threats
Numerous predators hunt black-tailed jackrabbits throughout their range. Known predators include coyotes, badgers, bobcats, golden eagles, several hawk species, owls, rattlesnakes, and gopher snakes. The open habitats jackrabbits occupy expose them to both terrestrial and aerial predators, driving their reliance on alertness, speed, and endurance for survival.
Beyond natural predation, black-tailed jackrabbits face multiple anthropogenic threats:
- Direct mortality through shooting, poisoning, and trapping for damage control, though current levels and impacts remain poorly assessed
- Habitat loss and degradation from agricultural conversion and development
- Wildfire increasing in frequency and intensity, removing shrubby vegetation essential for cover
- Invasive species like cheatgrass providing inferior forage compared to native vegetation
- Disease including tularemia and potentially Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus 2 (RHDV2) with estimated 90% mortality rates
Climate change poses significant emerging threats. Warmer temperatures and altered precipitation patterns projected for Washington’s Columbia Basin will likely lead to more frequent and severe fires. These blazes eliminate or reduce important sagebrush habitat and promote invasive annual grasses that provide reduced forage value compared to native perennial species.
Conservation status
Black-tailed jackrabbits carry Species of Concern designation under Washington’s wildlife management framework, though they lack federal protection. Like white-tailed jackrabbits, special permits are required to kill black-tailed jackrabbits in damage control situations, providing some regulatory protections.
Despite being more common than white-tailed jackrabbits, black-tailed jackrabbit populations have declined sufficiently to warrant conservation attention. The species is identified as a Species of Greatest Conservation Need under Washington’s State Wildlife Action Plan. However, quantitative data on distribution and abundance remain lacking, hampering targeted conservation efforts.
Priority conservation actions include:
- Determining and mapping current distribution throughout Washington
- Investigating specific causes of population declines
- Assessing current levels of mortality from lethal control practices
- Evaluating disease impacts, particularly tularemia and emerging RHDV2
- Protecting and restoring shrub-steppe and grassland habitats
- Managing wildfire regimes to maintain shrub cover essential for jackrabbits
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife continues monitoring black-tailed jackrabbit populations while working to understand factors driving their decline.
Successful conservation requires balancing habitat protection, disease management, and sustainable population management to ensure these iconic western hares persist in Washington’s shrublands for future generations.
Bottom Line
Washington’s six rabbit and hare species showcase remarkable diversity—from the critically endangered pygmy rabbit struggling for survival in remnant sagebrush to the thriving introduced eastern cottontail dominating urban landscapes.
Native mountain cottontails and snowshoe hares maintain stable populations in their respective habitats, while both jackrabbit species face conservation challenges from habitat loss and multiple threats.
Understanding these species’ unique adaptations, habitat requirements, and conservation needs helps you appreciate Washington’s lagomorph diversity and supports efforts to protect these important members of the state’s wildlife community for generations to come.
