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We've all seem them as they warily hop through the surrounding forests, although the snow-white colouration of the snowshoe hare makes it almost invisible at this time of year. They've become a part of our folklore from the Easter Bunny all the way to the story of the turtle and the hare. On a more local perspective, they provide one of the most important food sources for many of our local predators.

Surprisingly enough, we don't have any true rabbits in this area, only hares and pikas, both relatives within the same Order. The snowshoe hare is therefore easily recognized by its rabbit-like features and it's large rear feet (hence the name).

During the day, they laze away the sunshine hidden beneath the cover of one of the local spruce trees. The sharp needles provide both protection and camouflage. Come twilight they leave the protection of their tree and begin to browse on twigs and bark. Often they will kill a shrub by girdling it (eating the bark in a ring all around the tree) and thus cutting off the twigs food supply. They are very diverse in their culinary appreciation eating anything from flowers (particularly those in the pea family), grasses and leaves. In the winter they concentrate on twigs and buds. Like ground squirrels who eat their dead kin, hares have been known to eat the bodies of other hares.

If this diet sounds unappealing, there is another aspect of their diet that will really turn your stomach. Members of the Order Lagomorpha, which contains the rabbits, hares and pikas, have to digest their food twice. This means that they have to eat it twice--yes they eat their own droppings. The first time food travels through their system, it comes out as greenish pellets of partially digested food. After travelling through their system a second time, the pellets emerge round and black--the familiar pellets we've all seen.

Since hares form such a delicacy for the local predator population, the survival rate is very low--hence their unusual ability to reproduce in large numbers. Occasionally they will have as many as three litters in a year. The local lynx, coyote and owl populations, on the other hand, will quickly take care of any rise in numbers. As a result, the population rises and falls in cycles of around ten years. As the population of hares increase, the number of predators also increases, although at a slightly slower rate.

In one Alberta study, the population of great horned owls in a test plot increased from 10 to 18 birds in a three year period. During the same time the population of snowshoe hares increased by a factor of seven. Previous to this increase, only 20% of the owls had been nesting--this increased to 100% and their diet changed from 23% to 50% hare.