Lepus townsendii
Silhouette: Jan A. Venter, Herbert H. T. Prins, David A. Balfour & Rob Slotow (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The white-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus townsendii), also known as the prairie hare and the white jack, is a species of hare found in western North America. Like all hares and rabbits, it is a member of the family Leporidae of order Lagomorpha. It is a solitary individual except where several males court a female in the breeding season. Litters of four to five young are born in a form, a shallow depression in the ground, hidden among vegetation. This jackrabbit has two described subspecies: L. townsendii townsendii occurring west of the Rocky Mountains and L. townsendii campanius occurring east of the Rocky Mountains.
The white-tailed jackrabbit is a large species of hare and is the largest species called "jackrabbit". This jackrabbit has an adult length of 22 to 26 inches (56 to 65 centimeters), including a tail measuring 2.6 to 4.0 in (6.6 to 10.2 cm), and a weight between 5.5 and 9.5 pounds (2.5 and 4.3 kilograms). From winter to spring, weight tends to increase in females due to pregnancy, but decrease in males due to the stresses of reproductive competition. Thus, females in Iowa went from averaging 7.9 lb (3,600 g) in winter to 8.4 lb (3,800 g) in spring and males... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a White-tailed Jackrabbit sighting in Calgary on a given day, based on 1,557 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the most-seen of the 25 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and September–November
In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a White-tailed Jackrabbit in Calgary on a given day, against about 40% in May–August and December–March, the lowest months.
Between 6 and 9 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-tailed Jackrabbit sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Yes
Of the 2 cities where we can rate White-tailed Jackrabbit sightings, Calgary has the highest daily chance: about 40%. Next come Edmonton (Canada, about 40%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-tailed Jackrabbit is recorded against all the mammals logged in Calgary (1,557 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
