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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.
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