Neat that ones not on the Sagehen mammal list - how do you know its not a white-tailed jackrabbit?

Well, snowshoes are on the basin mammal list. That could just be someone's speculation, though, rather than direct observation. We've had a researcher out here looking for snowshoes in the past. We see a lot of tracks in the winter that seem to be snowshoe hares, based on their massive size relative to the front feet.

Jackrabbits aren't on our list and I've never heard of a sighting. That doesn't mean they aren't here, though. It's interesting that the range matches better than the snowshoe.

Now you have me worried :) I'll send the picture to some folks to see if I can get a confirmation.

From Kris, the forest wildlife biologist:

"Faerthen – I’d say definitely snowshoe – 2 reasons….. 1) white in winter (although white-tailed jackrabbit does that too), and 2) ear length in relation to head size (this is the really telling thing for snowshoe). Yes we do have white-tailed jackrabbits around – in the Sagehen area I would expect to see them more in sagebrush/plantation areas on the east side of the basin and further east out of the basin. For snowshoes, they would likely be everywhere else in the basin, especially north facing slopes as transition up to fir zone and along the creeks. Hope that helps!"

From Will, independent wildlife biologist:

"I'm actually taking a small herd of Great Basin Institute interns into Desolation tomorrow to look for white-tailed jack poop and set up cameras in the Velma Lakes area. You should join us! That photo, however, is a snowshoe hare. Habitat is a good clue (though WTJR could show up in unexpected places during winter), but the short little ears give it away. On an interesting side note, I'm working with the Veterinary Genetics Lab at UCDavis on all these guys, and all the snowshoe hares we've sequenced so far all have black-tailed jackrabbit mtDNA. Introgressive hybridization among Lepus has been documented in Europe and Asia too, but this is the first we know of it from North America. Cool, eh? Anyway, if you ever get a roadkill or find one that's been torn apart by a predator or something, please, please, please chuck it in the freezer and give me a call!"

"Anyway, if you ever get a roadkill or find one that's been torn apart by a predator or something, please, please, please chuck it in the freezer and give me a call!"

Gotta love science!

Yeah, we get excited about the strangest things :)