- Courtesy National Park Service
The black-tailed part of the black-tailed rabbit’s name is correct in that its tail is black, the rabbit part is not. These animals are hares, not rabbits. Several factors distinguish hares from rabbits. Hares have a leaner body and longer ears and legs, usually do not build nests, and their young are born well-furred with their eyes wide open. Three species of hares are native to California, the snowshoe, black-tailed, and white-tailed. The latter two are commonly called jackrabbits. Black-tailed are the most abundant and widespread of all the jacks and the only one found in desert habitats.
Facts and Features
- Geographic Distribution
Throughout the southwest United States, north into Washington, Idaho, Colorado, and Nebraska, west into California and Baja California, Mexico, and into northern Mexico
- Amazing Facts
Black-tailed jackrabbits eat their own droppings to obtain the vitamins and fatty acids necessary to their well-being. Unlike most other mammals, they produce two types of pellets, one of which, cecotropes, is re-digested. Cecotropes are produced in a portion of the animal’s digestive track called the cecum and are eaten as they emerge from the anus. Bacteria and fungi in the hare’s cecum are the source of the essential nutrients the jackrabbits cannot produce but need and acquire as a result of the second digestion.
- At the Aquarium
The black-tailed jackrabbit is illustrated on The Wave's mosaic tile mural, Rios de la Vida (Rivers of Life). The fountain, mural, and accompanying graphics illustrate the story of our Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers. Although not on exhibit in the Aquarium, this land mammal is included in our website animal database to expand on the information touched on in The Wave fountain exhibit.