Snowshoe Hare Reintroduced to Morgan Swamp

It?s not as though the snowshoe hare will be out of place in Morgan Swamp. The Nature Conservancy?s 1,000-acre preserve in Ashtabula County already has the atmosphere of a more northern locale, with its hemlocks and bunchberry, multi-generational tiers of beaver ponds and its location in the heart of the Lake Erie snowbelt.

The hare, which was reintroduced to Morgan Swamp in February of 2005 by the ODNR?s Division of Wildlife, ought to do well here, given the habitat, the availability of food, and the fact that hares have been successfully reintroduced to several surrounding properties in northeastern over the past five years.

But knowing the hare is around will mean something special to Karen Adair, the Conservancy?s Northeast Ohio Land Steward.

?The reintroduction of snowshoe hares says a lot about the quality and diversity of habitats   found at Morgan Swamp,? Adair says. ?It?s an extra reward for ? and an affirmation of ? the efforts staff and volunteers have put in over the years in protecting and conserving the swamp.?

The Conservancy owns and protects about half of Morgan Swamp, a 2000-acre remnant of a five-square-mile swamp that European settlers found when they first arrived to the area. The pioneers set about logging and draining the swamp, and by the early 1900s both the beaver and the hare were gone. But the beaver has returned and its dam-building ways have helped restore this swamp forest habitat along the Grand River.

Snowshoe hares have been successfully reintroduced to several areas in northeast Ohio over the past five years  © ODNR

The snowshoe's brown fur turns all white in winter, a color change that limits their range in Ohio to the snowbelt  © ODNR

It?s a productive place, harboring many typical Ohio species, as well as more boreal plants and animals that are living at the southernmost edge of their range. At last count, and before the reintroduction of the hare, Morgan boasted 108 bird species, 24 fishes, 26 reptiles, and 24 mammals. The four-toed salamander, the eastern massasauga rattlesnake and the chalk fronted corporal (a rare dragonfly) have been found here. This region was the first location for the successful reintroduction of the river otter. And it makes perfect sense as a home for the snowshoe hare.

?This northeast corner of Ohio is the only habitat in Ohio for the snowshoe hare, because of the snowfall,? explains Ron Ferenchek of the Division of Wildlife. The snowshoe?s brown fur turns all white in winter, a color change that limits their range in Ohio to the snowbelt. This fur acts as camouflage against predators, and if that isn?t enough, the hare?s large, webbed hind feet help it to stay on top of deep snow and dart off at speeds that can reach up to 27 miles an hour.

?When a predator pursues a cottontail, the cottontail runs for cover,? Ferenchek says. ?The snowshoe will head for the open, and turn up the speed.?

An elusive, camouflaged, high-speed creature like the snowshoe hare will be hard to spot, no matter how successfully it settles into Morgan Swamp. But Adair says she?ll keep her eyes open during the frequent work visits she makes with volunteers to battle invasive species at Morgan.

?When we work here in the future, we?ll have the added excitement of the prospect of catching a glimpse of a hare.?