Everything You Need To Know About The Snowshoe Hare
At Afognak Wilderness Lodge, we provide comfortable lodging to visitors on Afognak Island to fish, explore nature and take photographs of the amazing scenery and wildlife. Our lodge offers more than just your typical vacation, and it the experience you’ll have here will change your life forever. If you love nature, and seeing incredible animals in their natural habitat, we recommend visiting our contact page and booking a stay with us soon. A common animal that can be spotted in the wild is the snowshoe hare. This animal is larger than a rabbit, with taller hind legs, large furry feet and long ears. During the winter months, the hare has a snow-white winter coat that blends in perfectly with the snow-covered terrain. When the snow starts melting during early spring, the hare’s white furry coat changes color over time to brown, helping to conceal it from predators during the spring, summer and fall.
Behavioral Patterns
Snowshoe hares feed during the nighttime hours, following well-worn forest paths to nibble on trees, shrubs, plants and grasses. These animals are a popular target for many predators like fox, coyote, Lynx and even some large birds of prey. But fortunately for the hare, it has powerful legs, making it a very nimble and fast animal that can often outrun any animal pursuing it.
Fun Facts
Check out some interesting facts below:
Snowshoe hares are not native to Kodiak Island as this animal was introduced to the area in the early 1930s.
Snowshoes can travel as fast as 27 miles per hour, and can jump 10 feet high in a single hop. Many people are surprised to learn that these animals are good swimmers and will jump into a lake or stream without hesitation to flee from predators.
Snowshoes also have a very keen sense of hearing but they’re not very vocal. They do however, make loud squealing sounds when captured and may snort and hiss when threatened by a predator. These hares communicate with each other by thumping their large hind feet on the ground.
Photographing Snowshoe Hares
If you’re interested in Kodiak Alaska photography, you won’t want to miss an opportunity to snap a few photos of the Snowshoe hare, regardless of what month you visit. These animals are often found on south-facing slopes, hiding during the daytime in shallow depressions in the ground, concealed by low-hanging boughs of young evergreens. But when startled, Snowshoes use their long and powerful hind legs to run from danger. The key to photographing these elusive animals is to move slowly and take long pauses to flush them out.
Visit Our Kodiak Wilderness Lodge
Located on Afognak Island, and open during May through September, we’ve been a very popular Alaskan retreat since 1974 for photographers, sport-fisherman and adventurous vacationers. And yes, there’s a good chance you’ll spot a few Snowshoe hares during this time of the year as the area boasts having a large population of this impressive animal. To find out more about our lodge or to book your stay, please contact us.