Marsh Hare 
Varieties of the Polar Hare 
1. American Polar Hare. Lepus arcticus Ross. Range and 
description as above. 
2. Bangs’ Polar Hare. Lepus arcticus bangst Rhoads. Upper 
parts gray in summer, ears black. 
Range. Takes the place of the American polar hare in New 
foundland. 
3. Miller’s Polar Hare. Lepus arcticus labradorius Miller. Pelage 
hair brown in summer. 
Range. Replaces the American polar hare in Labrador. 
4. Greenland Hare. Lepus grenlandicus Rhoads. Differs from 
the American polar hare in the more protruding incisor 
teeth and other skull peculiarities. 
Range. Replaces the above in Greenland. 
Marsh Hare 
Lepus palustris Bachman 
Length. 18 inches. 
Description. Above yellowish-brown, with many black hairs scat- 
tered through the pelage. Underparts grayish, underside of 
tail grayish, never white as in the cottontail. Ears much 
shorter than in that species, and feet but scantily covered 
with hair. 
Range. Coast of North Carolina to eastern Georgia and northern 
Florida. 
The marsh hare is an inhabitant of the low seaboard of 
our Southern States. It is slightly larger than the cottontail with 
which it is often associated, and differs in its nearly bare feet 
and more scanty pelage. It is distinctly an animal of the wet 
swamps, not hesitating to take to the water and plunge through 
the deepest bogs when disturbed. Bachman says that it runs 
low on the ground and cannot leap with the same ease, strength 
and agility as the cottontail. From the shortness of its legs and 
ears and its general clumsy appearance, as we see it splashing 
through the mud and mire, it somewhat reminds one of an over- 
grown frat. 
Varieties of the Marsh Hare 
1. Marsh Hare. Lepus palustris Bachman. Range and descrip- 
tion as above. 




