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Black-tailed jackrabbit diets and densities were compared between rangeland and cultivated areas in southern Idaho to determine how heavily jackrabbits rely on crops for spring and summer food. Jackrabbit densities were significantly higher near cultivated crops than on the isolated rangeland. Where barley and crested wheatgrass plants were available to jackrabbits, they were preferred foods and made up a large part of the spring and summer diet. AS potato plants were not a highly preferred food, crop, damage by jackrabbits could probably be reduced by planting potatoes in a buffer strip between rangeland and preferred grain crops. Plant phenology was a major factor in determining food preferences of jackrabbits collected on rangeland. In the spring, 85% of rangeland diet consisted of grass. However, in early summer, grasses and forbs were eaten in equal amounts and by late summer, 71% of the diet was comprised of forbs and shrubs. Jackrabbits damage a wide variety of agricultural crops. Vorhies and Taylor (1933) reported that orchard and ornamental trees, alfalfa, and young cotton were the most frequently damaged crops in Arizona. In California, alfalfa, barley, forage crops, vineyards, and young orchards were damaged in early fall or when rabbit populations were high (Nelson 1930; Orr 1940). Janson (1946) reported that jackrabbits in Utah consumed considerable quantities of alfalfa, grain, and vegetable crops. Sparks (1968) and Flinders and Hansen (1972) found that alfalfa was important as a winter food. Other crops consumed by jackrabbits include cabbage, clover, soybeans, root crops, and tomatoes (Lechleitner 1958; Schwartz and Schwartz 1959; and Lindt 1965). Answers to a 1964-1965 questionnaire sent to county agents in the 17 western states (Hegdal 1974, unpublished) indicated that jackrabbits annually cause approximately $3 million worth of damage to agricultural crops. Jackrabbit movements in response to food supplies have been reported by Currie and Goodwin (1966) and Vorhies and Taylor (1933). Bronson and Tiemeier (1958) found that drouth and overgrazing in the Kansas sandhills caused jackrabbits to move into cultivated areas in search of food. Carter (1939) and Brown (1947) both felt that jackrabbit numbers increased in the early 1900’s because of crop cultivation. Feeding patterns and preferences of black-tailed jackrabbits have been well documented by Vorhies and Taylor ( 1933), Fautin (1946), Schwartz and Schwartz (1959), Currie and Goodwin (1966), Hayden (1966), and Flinders and Hansen (1972). However, most of these studies concentrated on rangeland diets. Little work has been done to determine how heavily black-tailed jackrabbits rely on agricultural The authors are all wildlife biologists at the Denver Wildlife Research Center, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Building 16, Denver Federal Center, Denver, Colorado 80225. Thanks are extended to John Keith, Farrel Branson, James Scott, and Hansford Shacklette of the U.S. Geological Survey for their help in the identification of our reference plant collection. Manuscript received January 22, 1979. JOURNAL OF RANGE MANAGEMENT 33(3), May 1980 crops for food and whether they are drawn to crop areas. Therefore, in this study, we compared black-tailed jackrabbit diets and densities between range and croplands. We conducted the study in 1972-1973 in Owyhee and Twin Falls’counties of Idaho. This area is mostly rangeland with some dry land and irrigation farming. The rangeland is dominated by big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), cheatgrass brome (Bromus tectorum), and bluegrass (Poa secunda). Bottlebrush squirreltail (Sitanion hystrix), Indianwheat (Plantago sp.), and tansymustard (Descurainia pinnata) are also common.

Black-Tailed Jackrabbit Diet and Density on Rangeland and near Agricultural Crops