Finally the elusive Great Basin Jack Rabbit

tamrock · Feb 25, 2019

Today I drove all day from Green River, Utah to Yerington, Nevada on highway 50. I've see these mega jack rabbits quite a few times either running across the road mostly at night and fewer times in daylight. I just happen to pull off the road and saw this guy hopping away through the sage, so I made a high pitch whistle and it stopped just for a moment and it was long enough for just this one picture. I tried to center and zoom the camera for one more shot, but it wouldn't have it and off it went. I'll bet this thing is close to the height of your kitchen table.

Haldean · Feb 25, 2019

Great Photo! I love it.

ronwoodcraft · Feb 25, 2019

Awesome!...He looks huge!

Professor of Engineering · Feb 27, 2019

Thank you for sharing! :icon_thumleft:

Jim in Idaho · Feb 27, 2019

Nice pic, Grant. The west's sagebrush deserts used to have millions of them. Blacktail Jacks. Not so many anymore. Primarily because we've lost millions of acres of sage to cheat grass, and the fires it causes.
Jim

Kray Gelder · Feb 27, 2019

Wow! Really great shot. He/she's staring straight into the sun, lighting up the eye. Great detail, neat animal.

tamrock · Feb 27, 2019

Jim in Idaho said:
Nice pic, Grant. The west's sagebrush deserts used to have millions of them. Blacktail Jacks. Not so many anymore. Primarily because we've lost millions of acres of sage to cheat grass, and the fires it causes.
Jim

Yeah these jack rabbits have been disappearing in many regions, they once roamed. They're seem to be pretty good in numbers along highway 50 in Nevada. Quite a while ago I had dinner at the Hotel Nevada in Ely and I got to talking to a game warden also having dinner. He told me he was beginning his shift where he'll drive so many miles west on 50 and then return. His mission was to count how many jack rabbits he sighted. It's pretty rare to see them during the day.

tamrock · Feb 27, 2019

Kray Gelder said:
Wow! Really great shot. He/she's staring straight into the sun, lighting up the eye. Great detail, neat animal.

I'm happy I got a picture of this one. I read many years ago in some book that it was noted the native Americans would whistle in a high pitch as a technique in hunting the Hare. It works not just on these guys, but I've had deer that were running away stop and turn around and begin to walk back towards me out of curiosity to a low high pitch whistle sound I was making. Still it only maintains their attention for just a moment and the sight and smell of me shifts them back to the mode of caution and off they go.

Jim in Idaho · Feb 28, 2019

tamrock said:
Yeah these jack rabbits have been disappearing in many regions, they once roamed. They're seem to be pretty good in numbers along highway 50 in Nevada. Quite a while ago I had dinner at the Hotel Nevada in Ely and I got to talking to a game warden also having dinner. He told me he was beginning his shift where he'll drive so many miles west on 50 and then return. His mission was to count how many jack rabbits he sighted. It's pretty rare to see them during the day.

When our sage burned here, the Blacktail Jacks got replaced by either Whitetail Jacks or Varying Hares. I don't know much about either, but did notice the white tails when I saw them, and they're BIG. As the sage slowly comes back, I see a few more of the Blacktails now and then. It's amazing how much our "sagebrush" desert changed since I moved here 44 years ago. What was once a sea of sage is now a sea of grass.
Jim

rginn · Feb 28, 2019

When hunting rabbits on the Southern Plains if I flushed one I would whistle like a red tail hawk and they would freeze. It works. We always preferred cottontails to jackrabbits though. I don't know why that is for sure.

tamrock · Feb 28, 2019

RGINN said:
When hunting rabbits on the Southern Plains if I flushed one I would whistle like a red tail hawk and they would freeze. It works. We always preferred cottontails to jackrabbits though. I don't know why that is for sure.

Indeed they way I do it has the same pitch as a hawk. I believe they stop, so not to draw attention to themselves.

tamrock · Feb 28, 2019

Jim in Idaho said:
When our sage burned here, the Blacktail Jacks got replaced by either Whitetail Jacks or Varying Hares. I don't know much about either, but did notice the white tails when I saw them, and they're BIG. As the sage slowly comes back, I see a few more of the Blacktails now and then. It's amazing how much our "sagebrush" desert changed since I moved here 44 years ago. What was once a sea of sage is now a sea of grass.
Jim

It is sad isn't it. I really enjoy the sage country because it's now the place to find some peace in the natural world and the mountains are full of hikers, bikers, 4 wheelers and atv's

Jim in Idaho · Feb 28, 2019

tamrock said:
It is sad isn't it. I really enjoy the sage country because it's now the place to find some peace in the natural world and the mountains are full of hikers, bikers, 4 wheelers and atv's

Yup...and it's simply amazing how much life there is in a sagebrush desert. The grasslands don't have anywhere close to the same diversity.
Jim

A2coins · Mar 1, 2019

I remember seeing those when I lived in AZ and Roadrunners and all kinds of creatures cool pics

WannaDig3687 · Mar 8, 2019

I'll bet this thing is close to the height of your kitchen table.

WOW! Hoppity Boppity!

tamrock · Mar 8, 2019

Wrightdigger said:
WOW! Hoppity Boppity!

I wonder if the public schools still enlighten the minds of kindergarten children with the story of this critter? Probably not, as being lazy will be the least of your worries in the future, as there's so much more to be offended about. Like shouldn't the Tortoise and the Hare be equal and is it fair that one loses because of their character :dontknow:

WannaDig3687 · Mar 8, 2019

That's a good question. IDK. I can say that I see more and more rebelling of this progressive learning environment, from kids to grandparents and everyone in between.

Kray Gelder · Mar 8, 2019

tamrock said:
I wonder if the public schools still enlighten the minds of kindergarten children with the story of this critter? Probably not, as being lazy will be the least of your worries in the future, as there's so much more to be offended about. Like shouldn't the Tortoise and the Hare be equal and is it fair that one loses because of their character

No worries. They'll both get "participant" or "enthusiasm" awards.