The American Beagler Forum

A good friend has 80 acre running pen in northern Tennesee he has purchsed 30 Northern hare to put in his pen .The question I have is will they live and if they do what effect will they have on the cottontail rabbits he has in his pen?

I believe hare can survive in your friends pen providing that it is relatively wet and has good forage that hare prefer. This can be supplemented with waterers and feeders.
The big problem is that the hare turn white in the winter, they are sitting ducks for owls and hawks without snow on the ground. This also causes lots of sight chases that will not help in training or settling a beagle.
Hare like rabbits don't stand up well in heat and will die from heat exhaustion or stroke if ran hard even if the dogs don't catch them.
Putting too many hare in a pen can cause lots of problems too. They will fight among themselves and die from their wounds or infection. 10 would be plenty.
These are just some thoughts from experiences I've had.

I think there are some preferred elevation requirements also that are condusive to their survival. I know that Rick Burkholder has stocked them in PA and he spoke of some requirements about elevation when I asked him about it.

big dog

According to the game commision here in PA, all attempts to stock hare at elevations below 1000 feet have failed.

According to the game commision here in PA, all attempts to stock hare at elevations below 1000 feet have failed.

This post and the one I read the other day concerning the possibility of crossing domestic rabbits with wild cottontails has me wondering. I know the snowshoe hare have limitations in lower/warmer environments, but what about Jack Rabbits? If they survive in desert conditions, you would think they would thrive in lusher (aka greener) environments. Anyone have Jacks in their running pens?

p.s. If anyone cares or has tried to email me, my address has changed. It is now DDWBeagles@aol.com
Thanks