Name of Animal:
The Snowy Hare
Food Resources/Classification of Animal:
The snowy hare is an omnivore that has a wide range of foods it can eat. It can eat vegetation and meat. Although the snowy hare can eat all of the snowshoe hare¡¯s food, its most preferred types of vegetation are grasses, dandelions and tree bark from trees such as willow, birch and maple. Being a cousin or relative of the snowy owl, the snowy hare is able to eat some of the prey of the snowy owl. However, being smaller in size than the snowy owl, it can only eat small rodents such as field mice and lemmings.
Biome/Habitat:
The snowy hare can be found only in Canada. It lives in the northern part of the Boreal Forest and also in the southern part of the Tundra. When the weather gets warmer in the summer, the snowy hares all migrate to the Tundra to keep from too much heat.
Strengths
- Snowy hares are able to fly quite fast from both ground and air predators.
- The sharp claws of the snowy hare provides good defense against predators that come too close and are able to catch rodents quickly while diving in from the air or pouncing on them on ground.
- The thick feathers and fur of the snowy hare insulates the heat very well in the cold weather of the Tundra and northern Boreal Forest.
- The snowy hare is a little lighter than the snowy owl. It is actually quite small-it just looks big because of its puffed up fur and feathers. Being light allows the snowy hare to move faster on ground and in air.
- The legs of a snowy hare are very strong so therefore it can stand on its hind legs and also run very fast.
- A wide variety of foods the snowy hare can eat reduces the risk of starvation.
- The snowy hare has very strong teeth to gnaw and grind the plants and meat it eats.
- The snowy hare is able to shed its fur and feathers during a 10 week period twice every year when the Boreal Forest becomes green and when it becomes snowy. It turns to a dark shade of brown during the summer and off-white in the winter.
Weaknesses
- A sudden change of temperature or weather within a 10 week period would make the snowy hare stand out a lot.
- Also, if there is a sudden change of temperature or weather that makes the climate warmer, the snowy hare would be very warm under all that fur and feathers.
- The wings of the snowy hare could slow it down while running.
- The limps of the snowy hare will make the speed of the snowy hare slower in the air.
- The snowshoe hare¡¯s ears can make the hare lose a lot of heat, especially during the cold days.
- If the teeth of a snowy hare break, it would take a while to grow back so therefore it might starve.
