Lepus timidus

The snow hare is the earliest rabbit species to be named. The species classification is stable, but there are many subspecies and some confusion. This species is very cold-resistant and lives in the taiga forest in the Arctic Circle or close to the Arctic. The snow hare is one of the representative animals of the arctic and subarctic zones and is a type of large wild rabbit.

The snow rabbit has shorter ears than domestic rabbits. This is because in cold areas, it not only does not need large ears full of capillaries to dissipate heat, but also often needs to keep its ears tightly against its back to preserve heat. Its eyes are large and placed on both sides of the head, providing it with a wide range of vision, allowing it to look forward, backward, sideways and upward at the same time, which can be said to be able to see all directions. But the only drawback is that the distance between the eyes is too large, and the face must be moved left and right to see objects clearly. When running fast, there is often no time to turn the face, so it often hits the wall and the tree. The fable of "waiting for the rabbit by the tree" is probably taken from this.

Snow hares are herbivores, and their main food is leaves, wood, bark, stems and mosses, but the food is different in different seasons and places of residence. In summer, the food of snow hares living in the forest is mainly leaves and branches; the main food of snow hares living in the tundra is alpine plants, and the main food of those living in the plains is grass, lichens and bark. In winter, when most of the food is buried under the snow, heather is the main food source of snow hares.

Snow rabbits usually move alone except during the estrus period. During the day, they hide in simple caves under bushes, depressions and fallen trees, which are covered with dead branches and leaves and their own shed hair. They come out in the early morning, dusk and at night. Their nests are not fixed, so there is a saying that "a cunning rabbit has three burrows". They never move along their own footprints, but always take a circuitous route to their nests. When they approach the nest, they first walk around in circles, observe and listen carefully, and then slowly retreat into the nest.

The snow rabbit is cunning and alert, and its movements are irregular. When it is active, it usually listens quietly to decide where to go. Before leaving the nest, it creates an illusion to confuse its natural enemies so that their nests are not discovered by their natural enemies. Its sense of smell is very sensitive, and its nest is usually in a slightly ventilated place. When sleeping, its nose is facing upwards so that it can smell the smell of its natural enemies at any time. Its two ears are also alert to listen to any abnormal sounds. After heavy snowfall in winter, it digs caves more than one meter deep to live in, and forms crisscross tracks on the snow. When in danger, its eyes are wide open, its ears are pressed against its back, and it crouches low. It often avoids attacks from natural enemies because of its protective coloration similar to the environment. Snow rabbits are good at jumping and climbing, and are also suitable for walking on the snow. They usually jump slowly, and when frightened, they jump up and disappear without a trace in an instant. When running fast, it can jump more than 3 meters away, with a speed of about 50 kilometers per hour, making it one of the fastest wild animals in the world. When running, it often jumps into the air, up to more than 1 meter, so as to observe the surrounding movements and then determine the direction of escape. When running, it can also suddenly stop, turn sharply or run back to get rid of the pursuit of natural enemies.

Snow rabbits are usually timid and mild-tempered, but in the mating season from March to May, they are out of character and no longer as cautious and secretive as usual. Instead, they become extremely active and run around all day looking for mates. In order to win the favor of female rabbits, males often jump and frolic, and make all kinds of bizarre movements when jumping. This is what the proverb says "crazy as a hare in March". During this period, each female will be followed by several males, and sometimes six or seven males will compete with each other for a female and fight fiercely. They stand on their hind legs, hit each other with their front paws, or wrestle and bite each other, and the male who wins in the end can mate with the female.

Snow rabbits breed 2-3 times a year, with a gestation period of about 50 days, and 2-10 pups per litter, with 2-5 pups being the most common. Newborn pups are covered with dense fur and weigh 90-120g. Unlike domestic rabbits, they can open their eyes after birth, start living independently after 20 days, and reach sexual maturity in 9-11 months.

As the fur color of snow rabbits changes with the seasons, it is the only wild rabbit whose fur turns white in winter. It is very ornamental and there are no snow rabbit products on the market. Therefore, poaching, smuggling and illegal trading of snow rabbits are very serious.

Listed as a Class II protected animal in China

Listed in the 2008 Red List of Endangered Species of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) ver 3.1 - Least Concern (LC)

In February 2021, it was listed in the Class II List of China's National Key Protected Wildlife.

In China, it is distributed marginally in the northern part of Heilongjiang and the Altay region in northern Xinjiang. It is widely distributed abroad, from Norway, Sweden, Finland to eastern Siberia, Russia.

The snow hare lives on the edge of swamps in the cold temperate or subarctic coniferous forest areas, in reeds, willow bushes and poplar forests in the river valley. It is one of the representative animals of the cold and subarctic forests.

The individuals are relatively large. The hair on the soles of the feet is long and brush-like. The hair is completely white in winter, except for the tips of the ears, which are black. It is the only wild rabbit in my country that turns white in winter. It is brown in summer, but the tail and abdomen are white. The skull is very large, with an average total skull length of more than 90mm, which is comparable to that of the plateau rabbit, but unlike the plateau rabbit, the coronoid process of the mandible is vertically upward. The snout is thick and short.