Friday

God's Winter Wonder - The Snowshoe Hare

The snowshoe Hare has many amazing biological systems necessary for survival in the cold northern regions of North America. It’s name comes from its feet. They are abnormally large and can spread out to make it easier to walk or run on snow. The bottoms of their feet are fur covered to help keep them warm. They also use their feet to thump the ground to warn of danger. When a thump is heard all Hares cease any movement while watching and listening for any threat.

When they run they can reach speeds of up to 30 miles an hour and change directions on a dime. They can also jump 10 feet from standing still. When they need to, they can swim faster than most non-water based mammals. The creatures were made for their environment.

The hare has a white coat in the winter, and a rusty brown or beige coat in the summer. It has separate hair follicles for each coat color which may be regulated by day length. I have not been able to find any explanation for how this takes place. It seems molting is still somewhat of a mystery. But we do know it is a complex system obviously tied to the environment.

Their ears are like sensitive microphones which can be turned in varying directions. The brain fully responds to each direction of sound and can locate the sound source with amazing precision.

These beautiful creatures are born fully covered in fur, eyes open, and ready to run. God is amazing.

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