In common with several other hunted creatures and a comparatively few that hunt, the “snowshoe” undergoes a complete change of color between its summer and winter coat. The transformation begins when the first snows are due, and usually the white coat is complete when the snows lie deep on the mountains. It is not, as was once supposed, a case of the brown guard hairs turning white, but a molt. The summer guard hairs are shed and white ones taken their place. The under fur changes color to a less marked degree. Close to the skin the animal is still brown. Outwardly it is pure white except for black ear tips. Marvelous as this protective coloration is, it is not absolute proof against enemies. There are many, and chief among them are lynxes, bobcats, wolves, weasels, and great horned owls. In many places in the far north the snowshoe hare is the chief host of the lynx, their numbers fluctuating in unison. [Illustration: snowshoe hare] Like most other hares the “snowshoe” spends a great share of its leisure time in a “form.” This is usually nothing more than a well concealed hollow. The semi-darkness under low hanging evergreens is much favored by these nocturnal animals for this purpose. They do not, at any time, frequent burrows, the closest approach to this kind of home being in winter when they are sometimes completely snowed under. They suffer but little during severe storms, because their long, fluffy fur is protection against the cold. Their greatest danger lies in the possibility of being buried alive in the event of a freezing rain following the snow. The young are born in late spring or early summer. They come into the world amid plushy surroundings indeed. The mother has lined the surface nest with soft hair pulled from her own coat, and a softer, more comfortable nursery could hardly be imagined. The little hares are born fully furred, with eyes open, and usually with the incisor teeth already through the gums. Their development is rapid, and long before cold weather arrives they are out on their own. White-tailed jackrabbit _Lepus townsendi_ (Latin: hare ... for J. K. Townsend) Range: North of the Canadian border to the southern portion of Colorado and Utah, and from the Cascade Mountains east to the Mississippi River. [Illustration: Habitat map] Habitat: Plains and open country, in the foothills, and even in the high mountains. Found in both Upper Sonoran and Transition Life Zones.