Have you seen how these guys throw fists? Jackrabbits are named after their donkey ears. The jackass rabbit isn’t even a rabbit though, it is a hare!
These animals may look like a bigger version of cute bunny rabbits, but they are not rabbits at all. Jackrabbits are wild animals called “American Desert Hares.”
Below is a list of 10 cool facts about jackrabbits or you can also watch our video about it.
ALSO READ/WATCH: 10 cool puffer fish facts or 10 rattlesnake facts
10 COOL FACTS ABOUT JACKRABBITS
Hares can stand on their back legs and throw punches like a human boxer, jump 10 feet, bite your finger off, and unlike true rabbits, eat meat!
But why do jackrabbits have such big ears, and what is up with that jiggly nose?
10. A terrible name
Take a look at the ears of the Jackrabbit. They are very similar to donkey ears, aren’t they?
The donkey’s nickname is “Jackass” and that is where the jackrabbit’s name originates from.
Mark Twain is most famous for writing a FICTIONAL book titled “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” but the author himself did some REAL LIFE adventuring in the deserts of the western united states.
In the 1800s during the gold rush, he noticed a peculiar-looking rabbit with huge ears and in his next, book Mark Twain named this new species the “Jackass Rabbit.”
Unfortunately, this incorrect name stuck and over time people shortened it to Jackrabbit.
But mark twain was an author, not a scientist.
9. Rabbits, Hares, and Pikachus?
The animal we call a “jackrabbit” today is actually a “hare.” More specifically “The American desert hare”. On the tree of evolution, hares are close cousins to rabbits, but they are different in so many cool ways!
I thought that this 2nd cousin of the hare in the lagomorph family “pika” was the inspiration for the pokemon Pikachu.. but no Pikachu is named after the Japanese words for “spark.”
8. Hares versus rabbits
Hares, including the jackrabbit, are twice as big as true rabbits and weigh up to 12 pounds. Proportionally, hare ears are much bigger than rabbit ears. So, Visually, ear size is the easiest way to tell a rabbit from a hare.
The hare and rabbit also sleep differently.
Rabbits sleep underground in burrows, and hares sleep above ground in the grass.
Rabbits live in groups of maybe 20 or so, while hares like to be all alone you’d be lucky to see them even pairing up.
Rabbits have been domesticated by humans and are often can be kept as cuddly pets or as farm animals. But, On the other hand, jackrabbits do very poorly in captivity. All hares including jackrabbits don’t like being touched.
LEARN: Facts about wild and domesticated hamsters and Fun koala facts
7. Green Machines and Diet
The jackrabbit is a herbivore – kind of. It likes eating grasses, roots, sticks, unripe fruits, clovers, and if it’s lucky some 4-leaved clovers.
They even eat dandelions.
Jackrabbits spend about 8 hours per day eating, which horribly grinds down their teeth. But it’s no problem, their teeth grow forever as our fingernails do.
There is speculation that jackrabbits can sometimes eat meat. The snowshoe hare, A.K.A the snowshoe jackrabbit, has been spotted eating its main predator – the lynx!
Hares can bite almost 33% as hard as a wolf, but no, this hare didn’t kill the lynx in a fight. The lynx was already killed in another way and the hare was just eating the carcass. This food source is called “Carrion” and yea it’s gross, but dead animals contain a lot more protein and nutrients than 4-leaved clovers do.
The hare slash jackrabbit’s main diet is low-nutrient and low-calorie greens. This food source is so poor that the jackrabbit will even eat its own poop to give it a second chance to digest.
6. A tasty snack
The world is surprisingly dangerous for jackrabbits aka the “American desert hare.” They are a popular food item for many animals.
Most of the big predators that live in the American desert ecosystem will try to eat jackrabbits.
There are the hard to spot quick strike predators like snakes, owls, eagles, and hawks.
But the main predators are mammals like foxes, mountain lions, coyotes, and bobcats.
Everything is TRYING to eat the poor jackrabbit, but most of the time TRYING isn’t good enough because hares are super evasive.
5. Natural Defences
A healthy adult jackrabbit is almost impossible to catch. They can run 45mph but are more famous for their ability to jump in zig zags. They can jump about 10 feet with each double-legged step.
The hare’s predators are bigger than the hare, so they have more mass and can’t turn as fast as the hare can.
Less momentum to the rescue!
Jackrabbits are literally “jumpy”, easily startled, and always on alert. Their best defences are their speed, camouflage fur, keen hearing with those big donkey ears, and their eyesight.
Hares’ eyes are on the sides of their heads, so they can see almost 360 degrees. The only blind spot is where their ears block the line of site.
Jackrabbits are strong enough to bite a finger off if they are in a fight for their lives, but their coolest move is punching the opponent.
In fact, female jackrabbits spend a lot of time punching male jackrabbits.
4. Jackrabbit babies are not bunnies
Jackrabbits reproduce about 4 times per year. Each litter consists of between 1 and 6 bunnies. Wait, but no – remember jackrabbits are hares, not rabbits.
Baby hares are called “leverets.”
Interestingly when the leverets grow up to be adults, the males are called “jacks” and the females are called “jills.”
Leverets are very different from bunnies. Bunnies are born completely blind and hairless. They can barely move. Baby rabbits are helpless. On the other hand, Jackass hare babies are born ready to run within hours, already have hair, and their eyes are wide open!
This is probably because rabbits are born in the safety of an underground burrow while hares are born on the open grassland and might need to escape predators within hours of birth.
Jackrabbits mate much as birds do. The male chases and plays with the female to show off his skills. The difference is that with birds the female can just fly away with hares if she doesn’t like him.
Well, she will stand up on her back legs and start punching him away. These jackass boxing matches are quite a sight to see!
Did You Know
The Jackrabbit lives in all 4 of the major North American deserts. Here is a map of the jackrabbit’s territory. Your best chance of finding a wild jackrabbit is in South Dakota. These 4 major deserts span further south than you might think – deep into Mexico. The 4 major American deserts are called The Great Basin, The Mohave, The Chichuhuan, and The Sonoran Deserts.
3,.Elephant ears
Elephants and jackrabbits co-evolved the same mechanism for cooling themselves down.
They both have wide and thin ears with a lot of surface area. The ears can spread hot blood into the capillaries just below the skin.
Ears have almost 0% fat tissue, so the heat from blood can easily dissipate into the air from the ears.
Fat is insulating like styrofoam, so even in us, humans’ heat can leave the body easier from the ears than from the belly because most of us have some heat-trapping insulating belly fat!
2. A Jiggly Schnoz
What is up with the jackrabbit’s nose? It’s constantly twitching all over the place.
well, This is a defence mechanism. The hare’s nose allows it to easily detect nearby predators if they are upwind.
The jackrabbit’s sense of smell is about 20 times more powerful than that of us measly human beings.
Also, hares use their schnoz to communicate body language. I can’t understand what a jiggling nose is communicating, but other hares can. This is somewhat similar to how dogs use their tail to communicate emotions.
1. A bright future
“American Desert Hares,” aka Jackrabbits, are listed by the IUCN under the status of “Least Concerned.” I’m happy that finally one of the animals we covered on animal science TV is safe.
While the Jackrabbits in the USA are doing OK, there is a species in Mexico that is critically endangered and needs our help.
The Tehuantepec jackrabbit will probably disappear soon because of human activity. Today, we are building on their territory and hunting them for food.
But in general, all lagomorphs rabbits, hares, and pikas are some of the most successful animals on earth. They reproduce way faster than predators can catch them and they can eat almost any form of vegetation
If there is one thing I want you to remember is that jackrabbits aren’t rabbits. They are hares and hares are cool animals too.
FINAL DISCUSSION
Fun Fact: There are 4 spellings and names for the jackrabbit, all of which are correct:
jackrabbit
jack rabbit
jack-rabbit
American desert hare
I honestly don’t know if humans will ever stop calling them jackrabbits. It’s undeniably a catchy name and sound very natural in the tongue than saying American desert hare.
Whatever you decide to call it, just remember at least now you know how to easily determine if what you come across is a regular rabbit or a jackass-rabbit!
I hope that you found this list and video about 10 cool facts about jackrabbits educational.
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