Lepus californicus
Whether cutting a zigzag path across the grasslands or swiveling its radar-dish ears to catch a sound, the black-tailed jackrabbit is a lively member of the animal community at Edgewood. The only hare found in the Bay Area, the black-tailed jackrabbit is usually seen at dawn and dusk, but you may spot one – on the run or at rest – any time of day on the grassy slopes of the preserve.
Appearance
The black-tailed jackrabbit is a hare, with characteristic long legs and ears. The fur is dark brown or gray, sprinkled with black, while the underside of the body and insides of the legs are creamy white. The jackrabbit also has a characteristic black stripe down the center of the back and a black rump patch. The tail is black on top, as are the tips of the ears. Well-furred feet have hair on the soles, which provides grip while running.
Hares weigh between 3-8 pounds and are about 1.5 to 2 feet long. Females are generally larger than males.
ID Tips
The black-tailed jackrabbit is one of only two members of Leporidae, the rabbit and hare family, found in Edgewood. The other is the brush rabbit (Sylvilagus bachmani, a cottontail rabbit). Jackrabbits are true hares, and are lankier and leaner than brush rabbits, with longer legs and ears. The ears can be up to 6 inches in length!
The jackrabbit also behaves differently than a brush rabbit. Being much faster than the brush rabbit, it’s more likely to be out in the tall grasses rather than hiding in brush and chaparral cover. In response to a threat, the jackrabbit will usually bound and flee at top speed, swerving and zigzagging, while the brush rabbit is more likely to freeze, hide, or dive into a burrow.
At Edgewood
Protected open spaces like Edgewood provide the space and resources that black-tailed jackrabbits need to live and raise their young. These camera-trap videos and images show jackrabbits in action at Edgewood, including a jackrabbit investigating a camera.
Check out iNaturalist for more observations of jackrabbits at Edgewood.
Habitat and Range
The most widely distributed jackrabbit in North America, the black-tailed jackrabbit ranges throughout the southwestern United States, into Mexico, as far east as Missouri, north into Washington, Idaho, Colorado and Nebraska, and west to California and Baja California. Adaptable to many different habitats and conditions, this hare survives and thrives in snowy areas and hot deserts alike.
The black-tailed jackrabbit is a habitat generalist and can occupy a wide range of habitats as long as there is diversity in plant species and structure. At Edgewood, look for jackrabbits in grassland, chaparral, and scrub.
Jackrabbits rely on a mixture of plant types in their habitat. They require mixed grasses, forbs (herbaceous flowering plants), and shrubs for food, and they need shrubs or small trees for cover. They spend time in moderately open areas without dense understory growth and are seldom found in closed-canopy habitats.
Diet
Grasses and other small, tender plants are the black-tailed jackrabbit’s preferred foods. They may also eat twigs and the young bark of woody plants when other plants are not available, as in Edgewood’s fall and winter. Jackrabbits don’t require much water and obtain nearly all the water they need from the plant material they consume.
Predators
Black-tailed jackrabbits are an essential food source for predators within Edgewood’s ecosystem. Their predators at Edgewood include bobcats, mountain lions, gray foxes, coyotes, raptors, owls, and snakes.
Lifecycle
In California, black-tailed jackrabbits breed from late January to August, with a gestation period of about 43 days. Female jackrabbits don’t prepare an elaborate nest. Instead, they give birth in shallow excavations, called forms, that are about 1 inch deep. Because the young need to be alert early on, they are precocial, meaning they are born fully-furred with eyes open, and ready to hop and run within minutes of birth. Females attend and protect the young only during nursing, which ends around 14 to 21 days. After the young leave their form, they tend to stay together for about a week. The jackrabbit’s lifespan is about 5 years.
Behavior
In California, the average home range for a jackrabbit is less than 50 acres. (For comparison, Edgewood is 467 acres). This is the area an individual jackrabbit uses for foraging, mating, and sheltering. The home range size depends on the density of the jackrabbit population, and females have larger ranges than males. Because jackrabbits are not territorial, their home ranges overlap. (Hickman 2025)
Black-tailed jackrabbits are considered to be crepuscular, meaning they’re most active in the twilight hours of dawn and dusk, but they’re often seen in daylight hours at Edgewood.
Jackrabbits rely on speed and camouflage, along with a characteristic “freeze” behavior, for their defense. When flushed from cover, a jackrabbit can spring 20 feet at a bound and reach top speeds of 30-35 mph over a zigzag course!
Jackrabbits pivot their long ears to track potential predators with their finely-tuned hearing, but they also use their ears for thermoregulation. Laced with fine blood vessels close to the skin, the large ears can help jackrabbits release heat from their bodies. Their eyes, placed high on the sides of the head, give them nearly 360 degrees of vision.
Name Derivation
The jackrabbit obtained its common name from early European settlers of the Southwest, who, noting the animal’s extraordinarily long ears, dubbed it “jackass rabbit.” This name was later shortened to “jackrabbit.” Its scientific name, Lepus californicus, simply means “California hare.”
Fun Fact
Some famous hares include Br’er Rabbit, Bugs Bunny, the Easter Bunny (originally a hare), the March Hare, and the Trixⓒ cereal rabbit. Many of these hares have evolved from traditional trickster figures.
Learn More
Cabrera, K. 2018. Black-tailed jackrabbit: Tracks and sign. Beartracker’s Animal Tracks Den.
Ellis, M. 2015, Aug. 6. Rabbits and hares. Perspectives. KQED.
Hawkes, A. 2016, Apr 29. Mad as a March hare. Bay Nature.
References
Burnie, D. 2011. Animal: the Definitive Visual Guide. DK Publishing, New York, New York.
Ballenger, L. 1999. Lepus californicus. Animal Diversity Web. University of Michigan, Museum of Zoology.
Hickman, K. 2025, Nov. 1. Personal communication.
Hood, C. 2019. A Californian’s Guide to the Mammals Among Us. Heyday, Berkeley, California.
Jameson, E. 2004. Mammals of California. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California.
Midpeninsula Regional Open Space. Rabbits and Hares.