Jack Rabbit Underfur ?

[J]

Can someone tell me the color of Jack Rabbit underfur ?

Thanks, Jim

[CM_Stewart]

On the jackrabbit skin I have (which I believe is a white tailed jackrabbit - other species may be different) the underfur ranges from a light grey on the back through the palest possible grey on the sides to white on the belly.

[Bugsy]

The black-tailed jacks (Lepus californicus) here have underfur that's mostly light buff in color, with the fur on the lower sides and belly being very light (near white).

There are other species of jack rabbits, including the white-tailed, antelope, and white-sided(?). I believe the snowshoe is also closely related. Thus, I would expect there to be some variance in underfur coloration.

[EdD]

Bugsy, your post makes me wonder if jackrabbit feet would have any special qualities for fly tying. Do we have any hombres (folks who live in jackrabbit country) out there who could check it out?

Ed

[Donald Nicolson]

As we don't have Jackrabbits over here , I thought I would wait for a few answers to come through before making any comments.
The nearest we have is the European Hare, and as far as I know, the underfur, which is a very pale buff to white, is not used at all.
Which is quite surprising considering how popular Hare fur is as a dubbing material.
The European Rabbit however, has grey underfur, which is used a great deal.

[CM_Stewart]

Bugsy, your post makes me wonder if jackrabbit feet would have any special qualities for fly tying. Do we have any hombres (folks who live in jackrabbit country) out there who could check it out?

Ed

The hair from a jackrabbit's foot doesn't seem to float very well, if that's where you were heading. Of course, where they live it's just short of desert. Their hair probably evolved to soak up dew like a sponge! To be honest, I only tied one fly with it, but I did not consider the experiment to be a success.

[Bugsy]

Bugsy, your post makes me wonder if jackrabbit feet would have any special qualities for fly tying.

Like CM_Stewart states, while there are many similarities, the dense hair on the bottom of the feet seems unique to the snowshoe and would serve no purpose in a desert climate.

The nearest we have is the European Hare...

Yes indeed. The jack "rabbit" is actually a hare as well: long ears, long hind legs, dark back, furred, active newborns, etc...

I understand the European Hare has established populations throughout eastern North America where it is also known as the Eastern Jackrabbit. Could this "Eastern Jackrabbit" be the source for some or most of the "hare's masks" we obtain in the US?