The black-tailed jackrabbit is Utah’s desert hare, and 803 records map it across the state’s open basins, from the grasslands of Antelope Island State Park through the Arches and Capitol Reef country to Red Cliffs National Monument and the Grand Staircase. Davis, Washington, Kane, and Box Elder counties lead the count.
Speed and ears instead of a burrow
Unlike a cottontail, a jackrabbit never digs or dens. It is a true hare, born furred and sighted, and it rests by day in a shallow form scraped beneath a shrub. Its defense is detection and flight, oversized ears that catch sound and shed desert heat, and a top speed near 40 miles an hour delivered in long, erratic bounds. Open ground with scattered sagebrush, greasewood, or saltbush is its element, which is why Utah’s record hugs desert valleys and canyon benches at places like Arches National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area rather than the forested high country.
Breeding through the warm months
Jackrabbits stay active all winter, but the breeding season runs from spring into summer, when females raise several litters of leverets in succession. Utah’s counts build from April, hold high through July, and drop off by August, tracking that long reproductive season and the flush of green feed after spring growth. Winter counts never fall to zero; on snow, a jackrabbit’s dark silhouette and sprawling tracks give it away.
Status in Utah
NatureServe ranks the black-tailed jackrabbit S5, Secure, in Utah, and the species is native to the state. USGS NAS does not list it as nonindigenous here.
Full species profile
