Hard rabbit

Ochotona Princeps rabbits live in large flocks, alienating people. They live in high mountain areas, usually at an altitude of 2,500 - 4,000 m. The rabbits are stubborn or hiding in stone piles to avoid harsh weather and avoid evil animals. Because of the few appearances, this type of rabbits is not well known.

There was a time during the year, each rabbit occupying a small area, even when living together. The area of ​​the male is usually close to the female area.

Rabbit O. Prrinceps mainly eat grass. People see them sucking their grass in their mouths. The rabbits are very smart, in summer and fall, they find dry places to dry for hay. The piles of grass are gathered to dry out in the sun or under rocks. When the grass is dry, they will bring the grass into the cave. By the end of the summer, they gathered small haystacks, carefully preserved for winter.

In the cold winter, if the food is out of stock, they will eat moss, lichen and many other small plants that grow in the cave.

The appearance of the rabbit O.Princeps looks like a normal rabbit, but when you look carefully you will see the O.Princeps rabbit has two round and short ears. The hind legs are no longer than the front legs, unlike the regular ones. Big nose. The tail is so short that it is barely enough for us to see that they have a tail. The body is round like an egg, about 21 cm long, weighing about 180 grams. The coat is brownish or reddish, soft, long and thick. Males and females look very similar.

The rabbits have two types of cries. A short cry alarms when there are good enemies to intimidate intruders in your area. The second type sounds like a song, used by males during the breeding season, but during the fall both males and females are 'singing'.

This unique type of rabbit works mainly during the day, they spend a lot of time to heat up the sun. Most of the time their day is eating, drying grass, tracking enemies and protecting their area. The rabbits often appear early in the morning and disappear into the grass-lined nest, hidden in stone crevices right after sunset. They remain active during the winter in snowy weather, not hibernating.

O.Princeps rabbit lays twice a year; they have sex for about a month before the snow melts, mating season usually lasts from late April to early July. Females produce 2-4 juveniles in the spring. Juveniles wean at 3-4 weeks of age and leave their mother at 4 weeks of age. After that, the children have sex for the second time and give the second child of the year.

The calf reaches its maximum size within three months, but can only start to reproduce at 2 years of age.

In nature, rabbits carry O. Princeps as bait of eagles, hawks, bears, wolves. But the most dangerous enemy of the rabbits is the Ermine weasel - this skilled predator can chase the rabbits in the rocks.

The average lifespan of this alpine rabbit is about 6 years, they are distributed mainly in the northwestern United States and western Canada.