{"id":4858,"date":"2010-04-02T00:05:17","date_gmt":"2010-04-02T07:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thefreequark.com\/?p=4858"},"modified":"2010-04-02T00:05:17","modified_gmt":"2010-04-02T07:05:17","slug":"not-the-easter-bunny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ingridtaylar.com\/?p=4858","title":{"rendered":"Not the Easter Bunny"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Black-tailed<\/a>

Black-tailed Jackrabbit - \u00a9ingridtaylar<\/p><\/div>\n

Those ears serve this Black-tailed Jackrabbit well. A jack will usually hear you coming long before you see him. And he can regulate blood flow in these ears<\/a> to adjust for external temperatures. <\/p>\n

The Black-tailed Jackrabbit (<\/i>Lepus californicus<\/i>) — any jackrabbit — is actually a hare, not a rabbit.<\/p>\n

This particular jackrabbit wasn’t keen on my presence. What appears as “calm” is anything but. It’s a defense mechanism. So, although I could have waited for his moment in the sun, I opted to snap this quick shot and leave him to his camouflage. A second hare had scrambled away the instant I accidentally came upon the two in a Berkeley meadow.<\/p>\n

The second photo below was captured on a different day, different jackrabbit.<\/i><\/p>\n

What I find most endearing about jacks is their soulful expression — the ears and eyes so huge as to suggest a wonderment. I doubt that ‘wonderment’ is what a jackrabbit feels. If a hare could talk I imagine ‘cynical’ would be its disposition, given how often the poor thing has to run for its survival. Any jackrabbit that survives the onslaught of predators — human and other — is probably a jaded old soul.<\/p>\n

This photo is obviously compromised by our friend’s shady stance. If you’d like to see a more comprehensive database, check out the jackrabbit images at CalPhotos<\/a> — one of my favorite online references for California flora and fauna.<\/p>\n

Hares versus Rabbits<\/h3>\n

Just a few qualities that distinguish hares from rabbits:<\/p>\n