The snowshoe hare’s New Hampshire map tilts north. Of 316 records, Grafton, Coos, and Sullivan counties hold the bulk, and the named places read like a high-country itinerary: the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, White Mountain National Forest, the Pemigewasset and Wild River wildernesses, and Franconia Notch State Park.
Camouflage on a schedule
Twice a year the hare trades coats, brown through the warm months and white by early winter, a molt triggered by day length rather than snowfall. Oversized hind feet, the snowshoes themselves, spread its weight over soft snow and let it bound where a fox or bobcat flounders. Winter is when the record fills in, with counts peaking in December, January, and March, since a white hare’s tracks, clipped twigs, and pellet piles are the easiest sign in a quiet woods.
A browser in young, thick woods
Snowshoe hares live in dense, regenerating conifer and mixed forest, the thick growth that follows logging or blowdown, browsing buds, twigs, and bark when snow covers the ground and grazing grasses and ferns in summer. New Hampshire’s record fits that habitat precisely, holding to the northern forests and high country while the lowland south belongs to the eastern cottontail.
Status in New Hampshire
NatureServe ranks the snowshoe hare S5, Secure, in New Hampshire, and the species is native to the state. USGS NAS does not list it as nonindigenous here.
Full species profile
