Outdoors/Adventure

Rising snowshoe hare population good news for lynx, Dall sheep — and Alaskans

PAXSON — We call them bunnies, but know they are really snowshoe, or varying, hares.

These little critters are interesting animals. As an important food source for many of our furbearers, they affect those who trap for recreation or a portion of their livelihood. They also have an impact on hunters -- not just those who hunt hares, but sheep hunters as well.

The snowshoe hare population cycle hits a low point every 10 years or so, for reasons scientists haven't pinpointed. But it is well known that lynx depend on hares as their main food source. Golden eagles and coyotes rely heavily on them, too.

During the low point of the hare cycle, according to an Alaska Department of Fish and Game study, golden eagles have few active nesting sites. Coyotes have less success at their dens, too, and both of these predators target Dall sheep lambs. Fewer golden eagles and fewer coyotes mean better lamb survival. Eight or nine years down the road, sheep hunters will see the difference.

Trappers notice, too. Coyotes and foxes rely on hares to a large extent, but lynx populations are tied closely to snowshoe hare cycles. During low hare cycles, there are few lynx, meaning less income from these important furbearers for rural trappers who depend on them.

Hares seem to exist just to be a food source. They have few defenses against predation. Sure, they turn white during the winter, but many times, hares are white before snow falls. When that happens, they become white targets in the black spruce and willow thickets.

Failing daylight and the lack of melatonin production triggers their color change. All hares turn white during the winter and are some shade of gray during the summer. The origin of "hare" probably comes from either the German word "khasen" or the Dutch "hase," meaning gray.

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I remember hunting them as a kid and catching several with my hands. As long as I didn't look directly at them, I could usually get close enough to grab them. I wanted to take them home and try to raise them, but unfortunately they would die in my hands. I assumed they had a heart attack from fear. Hares, after all, are not pets.

Hares are designed to be food. They are good eating, especially when cooked slow in a Crock-Pot or a Dutch oven on a wood stove. Rabbits and hares were the meat of the poor in England during the 17th century. The dish Welsh rabbit came from this time period. However, Welsh rabbit is not rabbit or hare at all, but a cheese bread. The poor Welsh had little meat.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game's wildlife notebook entry for snowshoe hares notes that hares yield "a considerable amount of meat (that is) quite tasty." But it adds that hunters should by alert for signs of tularemia, a bacterial disease found in hares and rodents throughout the world. Signs include general sluggishness and spots on the liver and spleen

The Easter bunny was originally an Easter hare. The tradition came to our country with western Germans. Children would make a nest of old clothes in a quiet corner of the house for the hare to come and lay eggs. Both the hare and eggs were fertility symbols. The short gestation period of hares made him a natural to lay the eggs instead of a chicken!

Hares don't burrow and have their young in "forms," made of grass in close cover. Young hares are born with their eyes open and can cruise on their own in a few hours. Most rabbits make underground burrows for their helpless young — a system that doesn't work in much of Alaska, where the ground is frozen.

Hares have been at a low point over the past few years, but this year the population is beginning to come back. At its peak, the population density may exceed 500 animals per square mile.

Most of the Interior is seeing a population resurgence, and furbearer populations that depend on the snowshoes will be about a year behind the population peak of the prey animal.

If you are a hunter, trapper or just like to look, the next few years will be productive. Expect those crazy "March hares" once again to dart in front of the headlights of your car on the highway.

John Schandelmeier is a lifelong Alaskan who lives with his family near Paxson. He is a Bristol Bay commercial fisherman and two-time winner of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.

John Schandelmeier

Outdoor opinion columnist John Schandelmeier is a lifelong Alaskan who lives with his family near Paxson. He is a Bristol Bay commercial fisherman and two-time winner of the Yukon Quest.

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