You'll most often see this desert resident in the early morning, frozen next to a sage bush, ears up, eyes wide.
If you get too close, he'll launch into an impossibly long trajectory,
not touching the ground for 15 feet or more in a single leap, then dash
away in a zigzag pattern, reaching speeds of up to 35 miles per hour.
Early western settlers called it the "jackass rabbit" because of its
long ungainly ears, but its shortened name jackrabbit does a better job
connoting the firecracker explosiveness of his speed and zippy
maneuvers.
Like most desert animals, the jackrabbit is specially designed to live in a harsh, hot landscape.
Those long ears, which are practically translucent when the light hits
them the right way, help him to detect the sounds of a potential
predator but also give the many blood vessels inside plenty of room to
cool the blood to help prevent overheating, kind of like a radiator in
a car. Jackrabbits need very little water, and usually get enough from
the grasses and other vegetation they eat, so they don't need to live
near or travel to water holes very frequently. They do need to eat a
lot, however, and fifteen jackrabbits can consume as much forage as one
large cattle, which makes them a menace to ranchers and farmers in some
areas.
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