Attention snowshoe hare hunters, what color is your hare? We need your help this season!

The Pennsylvania Game Commission is tracking where snowshoe hares are found and if they are all white. Traditionally, snowshoe hares turned white to blend in with the snow, which helps them escape predators.

However, Pennsylvania is one of the few states where brown hares have been reported in winter and where unique winter pelt patterns, such as brown eye rings and brown ears, have been detected.

Join the agency’s snowshoe hare cooperator program and let us know where your hare was found and what it looked like. Here’s how to join: Email your CID number or name, mailing address, and phone number to hares@pa.gov.

Here’s another way all hunters can help: Be aware of Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease (RHD). While RHD poses no human health risk, it poses a significant threat to our Commonwealth’s cottontail rabbit and snowshoe hare population.

If a hunter locates multiple (two or more) dead or sick rabbits or hares, we’re asking the public not to handle or consume them and to prevent pets from contacting carcasses as well. If you encounter a situation like this, please report findings by calling 1-833-PGC-WILD or online at our Wildlife Health Survey at https://www.pgcapps.pa.gov/WHS.

For additional details on RHD and how hunters can help, visit: https://bit.ly/3BON1g9.

Rabbit seasons begin again on Dec. 16, and the snowshoe hare season opens Dec. 26, 2024.

Good luck. Have fun. Hunt Safely.

Original Post HERE