Hare’s mask, zonkers, packaged dubbing etc. It isn’t just plain old cottontail is it? My wife and I were discussing this and I didn’t think it was, but I so far have been unable to find any facts on the subject. I mean it is called Hare’s mask not rabbit mask right?
A hare is different than a rabbit If I remember right.
But the zonkers and dubbings are just regualr rabbit, and hares ear dubbing is from a hare not a rabbit.
Rabbit Info!!!
50 SPECIES!!
http://www.petwebsite.com/rabbits/rabbit_species.htm
Including;
Little Bunny Foo Foo 
Jack-a-lope
The Energizer Bunny
Easter Bunny
Velveteen Rabbit
Peter Rabbit
The Hare (The Tortoise & the Hare)
Bugs Bunny
ENJOY!
Doug
Velveteen Rabbit: Velvety smooth dubbing. I don’t know what color the velveteen rabbit was supposed to be but I always pictured sort of a shiny burgundy.
The energizer bunny would be good for those pink salt water flies, and bugsy would be the perfect shade for an Adams wouldn’t he? Or maybe my TV’s color was off when I was a kid.
Seriously though is it all just cottontail? In FAOL’s fly tying terms it simply states that the mask from a summer killed rabbit is considered especially prized. There is no entry for Hare.
It probably is… They just make special names for everything so that we fly tiers will see it and go buy it.
Young Man! You are so amazingly ‘Grounded!’ :lol:
I have harvested a lot of cottentails and I am reasonably sure that the hares mask you buy in the fly shop are not from a cottontail. Likewise zonker strips. The cottontail is brownish and gray while white fur is used for most zonkers. I would guess that a hares mask found in a store is from either a European hare or is the byproduct of the American meat rabbit industry. Another thing - It sure ain’t from a jack rabbit
Tim
Now just hold on there a minute, mister. I’m still much too blond for an Adams and shouldn’t be ready for a few years yet!
[quote=“Bugsy”]
Now just hold on there a minute, mister. I’m still much too blond for an Adams and shouldn’t be ready for a few years yet! :D[/quote]
BLONDE Adams??? New pattern?
Doug
I have harvested a lot of cottentails and I am reasonably sure that the hares mask you buy in the fly shop are not from a cottontail. Likewise zonker strips. The cottontail is brownish and gray while white fur is used for most zonkers. I would guess that a hares mask found in a store is from either a European hare or is the byproduct of the American meat rabbit industry. Another thing - It sure ain’t from a jack rabbit
Interesting that I just read in A.K. Best’s dyeing and bleaching book where he mentions that if you can get ahold of skins from a meat operation they are generally white and are excellent for dyeing, and making dubbing. A quick search on meat rabbits reveals that two breeds are most popular. The Californian, and New Zealand White, both large, mostly white furred rabbits. Interestingly, one website that expounds the virtues of the backyard rabbit ranch, discusses uses for by products. The author mentions furriers, and other places to sell the skins, but no mention of companies like Wapsi or Hareline. They must get their stuff from somewhere. Never been a rabbit hunter except by chance occasionally, but I think I need to start. Locally we have Cottontails, European Hare, and Snowshoes.
Hi Sagitgarius62,
The hare’s masks that you see in fly shops is from the European hare. I am certain that I read it in one of my book. Hare’s mask dubbing is made from the mask of the European hare, at least it historically has been.
I have made dry fly and nymph dubbing from rabbit hides that you see in craft shops. The hides are from rabbits that are grown for meat. The hides are very clearly different, fur wise, from the European hare.
I have also made hare’s ear dubbing from a hare’s mask. When I do, normally I only use the medium to dark portions of the mask, and don’t include the lighter portions, and in his book on good flies, John Gierach says he also leaves out the lighter fur portions. When I make real hare’s mask dubbing, I normally leave some hair on the center of the mask to use for tailing on the GRHE nymph.
I agree with Panman, cotton tail has medium to dark dun underfur. I don’t know how good it would be for dubbing, think it would be good for some patterns, but I wouldn’t use it for the gold ribbed hare’s ear. I like the browns, blacks, ambers, yellows, and other colors that you find in a real hare’s mask.
Cotton tail might make good dubbing for such patterns as the near enough, gray nymph, etc.
Regards,
Gandolf
At the local store (hate to buy at chain stores unless I have to) where I buy a lot of my materials, they have 2 different rabbits for the strips (straight cut and cross cut strips). They have died white rabbit and chinchilla. There’s a USA sticker on them, but that’s as far as I know about the origin. A Tandy store had a lot of rabbit hides but they ALL had China marked on the inside. I’m not even going to that topic… 
Rabbit is Rabbit -
The European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Rabbit
And the Hare is Hare -
The European Hare or Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Hare
Two different animals.
Usually when a fly dresser here in Europe, specifies rabbit fur, wild rabbit is usually meant.
When a coloured rabbit fur is specified, it is domestic white rabbit, dyed to the colour required.
As far as I know, no one has domesticated the European Hare.
Wild rabbit and Hare skins can look superficially similar, but are quite different when compared.
The simplest test is to check the under-fur. Rabbit has a grey underfur and Hare has a creamy buff colour.
The trouble with buying packets of fur is trusting the knowledge and honesty of your supplier.
That is true of anything.
If you want a Hare Mask or a Rabbit mask, there are several good suppliers over here (UK).
http://www.cookshill-flytying.co.uk/p1welcome.htm
But Jim Slattery gets his European supplies from there so maybe your best bet would be to try him.
He’ll also be able to give good advice on North American equivalents.
I’ll find his site address ASAP
<FYI: The Velveteen Rabbit from the original 1922 book, is pictured as a spotted brown bunny with a white front, black shiney eyes, pink thread nose and mouth, and pink sateen ears. And real thread wiskers. His hind legs were more of a “blump” to have him sit up. It was after the Fairy kissed him, that he became real, and appeared to the Boy who had first helped him be Real.>
Cute story, Betty, and quite a bit of history there…
but I just can’t picture a pink hares ear nymph 
Thanks everyone for the info. It seems that rabbit isn’t just that. From what I have read here and other research I have done, I have gleaned this so far.
- The skins from farm rabbits are used for zonkers, and A.K. uses the belly fur from the same for dyed rabbit dubbing.
- True Hare’s Ear dubbing is from European Hare, as is of course Hare’s Mask.
- Cottontail, which are the most prevalent wild rabbit in my area, have a very limited usefulness for the fly tyer.
As I said earlier there are some Snowshoes around. I see them occasionally deer hunting in the fall. I actually pulled up on one last year with my 30-30, but thought better of the results of shooting that size animal with that caliber, at about 10 yards. Other than the foot fur, I wonder what kind of dubbing the body fur produces.
Thanks for the follow up!!
Made it clearer for me, and I learned something.
You know, I read that once before (can’t remember where) but unless you’ve actually tried it in a number of patterns and it just didn’t work I find it hard to accept. Just because “hare’s mask” isn’t cottontail and hare underfur is a different color than cottontail underfur doesn’t mean cottontail is of limited usefulness. I bought a cottontail skin a while back from http://www.flytyingfurs.com/ (an FAOL sponsor) but I haven’t tied with it yet. Your comment will be the trigger for me to get it out and see what I can do with it. I mean, think of all the furs used in fly tying besides hare - squirrel, opossum, badger, raccoon, muskrat, beaver, mink, fox, coyote, mole, etc. Sure, they’re all different but they’re all useful. I have a hard time believing that a whole cottontail skin (with mask) for $5.00 isn’t one of the biggest bargains in fly tying.
I agree with CM Stewart in that there is one heck of a lot of useful fur on a cottontail, especially for dubbing. If a person was to go to the woods and harvest a cottentail I would like to remind them that wild rabbits are commonly infested with fleas and should thus be handled accordingly.
Tim
The Wild Rabbit or Cottontail as you call it is very useful.
Here are two flies using the grey underfur -
The Grey Duster is a very highly regarded dry fly over here, dun hackle, some times tied with a tail,
as is the following fly, a variant of it.
And the Barton Bug, which has a tail, or shuck, of long rabbit fibres.
These are all dry flies.
The mixed fur is very good for nymphs or wet flies.