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Black-tailed hare        Images © Mark A. Chappell

Black-tailed hares (jackrabbits) use their huge ears both for acute hearing, and also as radiators to help get rid of body heat.   They are usually shy and very alert -- understandable, as they are the favorite prey of numerous aerial and terrestrial predators.   However, the one at upper right was both sleepy and unafraid when I encountered it along the Delicate Arch viewpoint trail in Arches National Park, Utah.   After I took several pictures from about 2 meters distance, it casually got up, stretched, scratched, and wandered off under a bush.  The other hares were photographed near Palm Desert, California.

Two somewhat larger species of 'jackrabbits', the antelope jackrabbit from the Sonoran desert in southern Arizona, and the white-tailed jackrabbit, are also native to North America.

  • Canon 10D, 1D Mk. II, or 7D; 100-400 IS zoom lens, 500 mm IS lens plus 2X converter, or 800 mm IS lens, fill-in flash (2003, 2006, 2010)