Albino Black-tailed Jackrabbit?

Fire Opal · Joined: 03 Jun 2007 Posts: 3050

Okay, so it seems that we have a very unusual jackrabbit on our property. He's solid white (in the pictures he may look tan, but that's just from dust), without a speck of color. We at first assumed he was an albino, but now I'm starting to wonder. You see, he doesn't have red eyes. He clearly has a black pupil, although the iris seems to be pale, not the usual golden-brown. So my thoughts are that he is a partial-albino.

I thought I'd post this to get some extra opinions, as I can't find one single thing on the internet about albino hares, and of course to share this wonderful oddity. Very Happy

I have some pictures below, some better than others, none of them are that good but I hope you enjoy them anyway.

- see his eyes?

- is it just the camera, or is his nose dark?

SomebodyDude · Joined: 15 Aug 2009 Posts: 4997

WOW...Idk... But either way I think he is a fine Jackrabbit! Very Happy

Cocodri · Joined: 03 Jan 2007 Posts: 551

Wow - that is really cool. Rather than albino perhaps he is leucistic. Here's the Wiki article about it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucistic

They state that Leucistic animals usually have the normal eyecolor, however I know that at least in the case of Leucistic alligators their eyes are blue rather than yellow/green so I don't think that is a hard and fast rule.

At any rate - he is a very interesting hare! Thanks for sharing him!

Fire Opal · Joined: 03 Jun 2007 Posts: 3050

Yeah, while researching I looked up the condition and read that article. But based on "...leucistic animals have normally coloured eyes." I figured that wasn't it. But I guess we'll never really know either way, eh?

For the past four days I've been staking out where the hare's been hanging around. However, for the last two (counting tonight!) I have not seen him... This leads me to suspect that he may be *sniff* dead. He is a quite obvious target for a hawk, so I wouldn't be surprised!

wolfgirl159357 · Joined: 07 Aug 2009 Posts: 19967

Hmmm i hope he lived, well maybe he is partial albino and got pale eyes instead of the typical red?

Fire Opal · Joined: 03 Jun 2007 Posts: 3050

Yeah, I figured he was a partial-albino.

I set up my wildlife game camera, so if I get lucky I might have some pics of him tonight.