Tahoe has three species of regularly occurring rabbits and hares. They occupy a central ecological role between vegetation structure and medium to large predators, yet almost no attention has been paid to their status and distribution at Tahoe. A previously rare species here, Nuttall's Cottontails (Sylvilagus nuttallii) dramatically expanded their range west across the Tahoe basin between 2000 and 2016. Has this allowed Gray Foxes to move into the Tahoe basin at the same time? Snowshoe Hare (Lepus americanus) are a regular component of Tahoe's west shore fauna, but what about the Carson Range? And are White-tailed Jackrabbits (L. townsendii) really extirpated from the region (as they were officially considered by USFS, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit and Nevada Department of Wildlife)? TINS has been interested in all of these questions. 

We started with White-tailed Jackrabbits, a species that had not been formally documented in the region in many decades. Of further interest is the species' habitat preference of high ridges and mountaintops. Under current climate-change models, this species could be pushed off the tops of the mountains in the near future, so it was important that we establish an accurate distributional baseline. Starting in the winter of 2010-2011, TINS set out to document the current distribution and status of White-tailed Jackrabbits in the Tahoe region (which do still occur widely at Tahoe). This project has been funded in part by the Nevada Division of State Lands, Lake Tahoe License Plate Grant Program. Research is ongoing, and photos from the project can be found on this Facebook album.  

In partnership with Dr. Ben Sack's lab, part of the the Veterinary Genetics Lab at UC Davis, we have expanded this work to include Snowshoe Hare, and since 2020-2021 we have been repeating Snowshoe Hare surveys in California State Park lands. Currently we have been spearheading a multi-agency Sierra Nevada Leporid Working Group to help guide research and policy for rabbits and hares of the Sierra Nevada.

Contact Will Richardson for more information.