Craig Daily Press

Craig — The jackrabbit — whose original name was said to be “jackass rabbit” because of its long, donkey-like ears — is no stranger to Moffat County.

Through the years, the jackrabbit populations have risen and declined. This winter, more jackrabbits than usual are being seen in part of the county.

The jackrabbit technically isn’t a rabbit. It belongs to the Genus Lepus, the “hare” group. Hares are bigger than rabbits and have longer ears. Their babies are born with fur and with their eyes open, while rabbit young do not have fur at birth and have their eyes closed.

Also, hares don’t dig burrows as rabbits do. Hares tend to hide in little depressions.

There are different kinds of hares. Perhaps most well-known are the Black-Tailed and White-Tailed Jackrabbits.

David Moreno, a wildlife biologist from Grand Junction, said Black-Tailed Jackrabbits are a southern species found more often in and south of Grand Junction, with the population increasing the farther south you go.

He said it would be rare to see the Black-Tailed species as far north as Craig.

The White-Tailed Jackrabbit turns white in winter, while Black-Tailed Jackrabbits do not. The jackrabbits most commonly seen in Moffat County are of the White-Tailed variety.

Although the jackrabbit is most active at night, a person might see one in the daytime, sitting perfectly still in a depression in the snow. Its ears laid back over its body, the white hare blends in so well with the snow that a person might walk right up on it.

Its eyes and the creamy color of its inner ears are all that give the hare away. When spooked, the jackrabbit’s ears become erect, and a person can see that they’re tipped in black. Since the jackrabbit has very big hind feet, it can get away in a hurry.

I remember, as a child, watching jackrabbits running in front of the car’s lights as we drove home on the county road at night. The jackrabbits didn’t seem to know how to escape to the darkened sides of the road, so they just ran along in front of the car. For this reason, jackrabbits often get run over.

The cute-looking jackrabbits can be a nuisance. My father, Kenneth Osborn, said large numbers of jackrabbits will eat under a haystack. A stack of loose hay can end up looking like a mushroom. When the hares eat under a stack of baled hay, some of the bales likely will fall over.

The jackrabbits get on top of stacks, too, leaving their waste products, which livestock find distasteful.

Moreno said the hares eat a lot, too. Eight jackrabbits eat as much as one sheep. Forty-one jackrabbits eat as much as one cow.

This year, the White Tailed Jackrabbit is being spotted around the county where it hasn’t been seen in a while. For example, Gary and Mary Kihlstrom report that since 1997, when they moved to their place north of Craig, they had seen one jackrabbit, up until this year.

“This year, we have quite a bunch of jackrabbits,” Mary said. “It’s never happened before.”

Jody and Cindy Prather, who also live north of Craig, have a bunch of jackrabbits, too, and the hares are climbing up on their haystack.

Georgia McIntyre of May­bell said they have “gobs of jackrabbits” at their haystack. “We haven’t had that many before,” Georgia added. She stated that earlier in the winter, they saw a lot on the highway.

But Tom and Donna Deakins said it’s common for them to have jackrabbits at their ranch west of Craig.

They don’t notice a difference in the population this year.

So, why are some places reporting large jackrabbit populations?

Bill Ekstrom, the Rio Blanco Ag/4-H extension agent, explained, “there’s a natural cycle that occurs in rabbit populations. There’s a high population, (then) a few years later, the population declines, and then it rebounds.

“Factors that control the natural highs and lows in the population are predators, disease and food.”

His opinion about seeing more jackrabbits this year?

“It’s due to the drifted snow,” he said. “The guys are looking for a handout.”

Moreno agreed about the natural cycles.

“Rabbit and hare populations tend to cycle,” he said. “Some years are higher than others. Those usually follow good forage-producing years.

“The increased number of jackrabbit reports this winter is probably due to the drifting snow, which is causing the hares to forage around haystacks.”

My father has seen the jackrabbit populations rise and decline in the Morapos area through the years. He remembers that the jackrabbits “got thick, overpopulated themselves, got diseases and died off.

He recalls harrowing fields in the spring that had dead rabbits on them.

“The fields looked as if they had been snowed on,” he said.

“No matter how many jackrabbits died, there were always some left to build up the population again. It’s nature’s way.”