White Rabbit

There had been some talk of possible sightings of Snowshoe Hares over the last week or so and a couple of days ago some visitors mentioned seeing a white "rabbit" and described the location of their sighting. Needless to say, I've been looking - had seen lots of tracks, too - and today I found it.

Sort of.

The creature in the photo that people have been seeing is no Snowshoe Hare. I only just learned that, like Snowshoes, White-tailed Jack Rabbits also molt to a different "plumage" in winter. Interestingly, both of these species were "unconfirmed" within the park, my photo takes one off the list.

This marks my the third "photo documented" species for the year (confirmed breeding of Red Foxes in June, county and park record Greater White-fronted Geese in September, and now the jack rabbit). It would be nice to have a similar string next year, but I won't count on it. There's no shortage of stuff around here that is already known that I've never photographed and would very much like to get (Gray Fox, Porcupine, and Weasel for starters - not to mention a whole host of birds).