HabitatThe black-tailed jackrabbit lives in meadows, prairies, desert scrubland and farmland. DietThe black-tailed jackrabbit rests during the day and feeds in the late afternoon and the night. In the summer it eats a wide variety of green plants. A favorite food is alfalfa. In the winter it eats dried and woody plants. The black-tailed jackrabbit gets most of the water it needs from the plants it eats. Life Cycle The black-tailed jackrabbit mates year-round. Males and females will leap after and chase each other during mating season. The female black-tailed jackrabbit can have as many as four litters a year. The young are born in a fur-filled depression. Most litters have between three to four young. The female will move the babies to separate locations to make them less vulnerable to predators. The babies only nurse for three to four days and are independent by the time they are a month old. Behavior The black-tailed jackrabbit can run at speeds of up to 30 miles an hour and it can jump a distance of about 20 feet. When it is trying to evade predators like coyotes, foxes, bobcats, badgers and weasels, it moves in a zig-zag pattern. It flashes the white underside of its tail when threatened by a predator. This warns other jackrabbits or danger and can also confuse the predator. It can also swim by dog-paddling with all four of its feet. It is most active at night. It usually spends the day resting in a scraped out hollow in the shade.
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