Critter: Black-tailed jackrabbit

SteveByland - Thinkstock: Black-tailed Jackrabbit

Name: Black-tailed jackrabbit, aka Lepus californicus

Description: This critter weighs between 5 and 8 pounds. It is about 17 to 25 inches in length, and its ears are 6 to 7 inches long. Females are larger than the males.

Fur color ranges from a buff to brownish-gray with black tips. Its ears and tail are also tipped black. The belly is lighter in color.

Usual haunts: It inhabits four deserts of the Southwest, including the Sonoran Desert.

Eats: It prefers grasses and forbs, twigs and bark, and the beans and leaves from mesquite trees.

Housing: The jackrabbit doesn't construct a den or burrow. Instead, it uses round depressions on the ground that are near brush or vegetation.

Offspring: It mates all year; the lengthy peak season is from December to September. Pregnancies last from 41 to 47 days. Usually two babies are born per litter, and there can be up to four litters a year. The babies are able to see, are mobile, and are covered with fur when they are born.

Predators: It is wary of coyotes, bobcats, snakes, owls, foxes, hawks and eagles.

Source: "Critters of Arizona Pocket Guide