Snowshoe hares turn white in winter and brown in summer, a camouflage switch triggered by day length rather than temperature, and their oversized hind feet let them stay on top of deep snow that would slow down most predators. Montana’s 261 records concentrate in the dense conifer cover of the Flathead region and the mountain forest around Red Rock Lakes, far more useful habitat than the open plains along much of the Missouri.
Records build through spring to a July peak, more than double the winter low, a pattern that likely reflects both easier summer access to forest trails and this year’s leverets becoming active enough to be noticed. Hare populations across the boreal forest famously cycle in boom-and-bust waves roughly every decade, tied closely to lynx numbers that follow the same rhythm, and NatureServe rates the species S4, apparently secure, in Montana.
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