Storm Fiona May Have Triggered a Snowshoe Hare Boom on P.E.I.
Snowshoe hares appear to be more common across Prince Edward Island in the years since Fiona, according to a provincial wildlife biologist. The possible increase in snowshoe hares since Fiona may be linked to changes in the landscape after the 2022 storm.
Garry Gregory with P.E.I.’s fish and wildlife division said he has been hearing from Islanders who are suddenly noticing more “rabbits” around their yards and properties.
But those animals are not actually rabbits, which are not native to the province. Gregory said the animals Islanders are seeing are almost certainly snowshoe hares.
“We certainly get lots of calls about rabbits, and lots of … anecdotal reports of people seeing snowshoe hares in and about their yards and properties,” he said.
“To say that it is more than usual would be difficult to say … but certainly we get lots of reports.”
There is no formal tracking data confirming that the snowshoe hare population has grown. However, Gregory said the changes to the landscape following Fiona make it “absolutely reasonable” to suspect that the number of snowshoe hares since Fiona may have increased.
The 2022 storm left dense, tangled debris across forests and woodlots throughout P.E.I. Brush piles, fallen trees and thick patches of deadfall have created plenty of escape cover, giving hares places to hide from predators.
“A lot of the woods … you couldn’t get through it unless you were a snowshoe hare,” Gregory said of the period after the storm. “If you were a predator of any size … snowshoe hare would be basically inaccessible.”
With more places to hide, more hares can survive, potentially leading to a rise in the population.
The possible increase in snowshoe hares since Fiona may not last forever. Over time, the cover will decline as the debris breaks down and coniferous trees lose their needles. As that happens, Gregory said, the benefits hares gained from the storm will gradually fade.
New growth means more winter food
Fiona did more than knock down trees. It also opened up the forest canopy, allowing more sunlight to reach the ground, Gregory said.
That has helped early successional, shade-intolerant plants grow, providing the kind of food snowshoe hares depend on during the winter.
Gregory pointed to willows, grey birch, some maples and pin cherry as examples.
“That would be prime peak of winter forage availability for snowshoe hares,” he said, noting that hares feed on the twigs and buds of those trees and shrubs during the colder months.
The new growth and shelter created after Fiona could help explain why Islanders are reporting more snowshoe hares since Fiona.
Fiona’s Lasting Impact Could Be Helping P.E.I.’s Snowshoe Hares Thrive
Gregory said the new habitat is also helping other wildlife, including songbirds such as chestnut-sided warblers and yellow warblers, along with American woodcock and ruffed grouse. All of these species make use of early successional growth.
However, Gregory noted that some forest stands, including white spruce, could take decades to return to anything resembling their pre-Fiona condition.
The changing landscape may help explain why Islanders are reporting more snowshoe hares since Fiona, although there is still no formal tracking data confirming a population increase.
He also said that having more snowshoe hares on the landscape does not necessarily mean P.E.I. will see more predators.
In northern parts of Canada, predators such as lynx are closely tied to snowshoe hare populations. Their numbers can rise and fall along with natural hare population cycles. On P.E.I., however, predators are more generalists and are not as closely dependent on snowshoe hares.
But P.E.I.’s predators are more generalist, Gregory said.
“They eat some snowshoe hare, but they also eat lots of other things.”
‘There’s absolutely no reason to feed them’
For Islanders who spot snowshoe hares in their yards, Gregory said there is generally no problem that needs to be addressed, other than the occasional nibbling in vegetable gardens.
Hares usually try to avoid people and are most active around dawn and dusk.
The increase in reports of snowshoe hares since Fiona does not mean Islanders need to intervene when they see one in their yard.
And if you do see one, Gregory says, don’t feed it.
“There’s absolutely no reason to feed them,” he said. “In the summertime, they feed on grass and herbaceous growth, which is virtually unlimited.… They don’t tend to take very well to feeding anyway because they could be particularly wary.”
Feeding the hares could also bring them closer to dogs, Gregory added. Dogs may chase or even kill the animals.
For now, the available evidence about snowshoe hares since Fiona comes mainly from observations and reports from Islanders, rather than formal population surveys. The reports suggest that P.E.I. snowshoe hares may be benefiting from the shelter and food created by changes to the landscape after the storm.
The long-term outlook for snowshoe hares since Fiona will depend partly on how quickly the storm-damaged forests recover and the temporary habitat changes disappear.
Ticks on hares are usually nothing to worry about
Gregory said the province is also hearing from Islanders who have spotted hares carrying ticks.
He said the increase in reports could be partly because more people now have phones that allow them to quickly take photos, along with growing public concern about ticks and Lyme disease.
However, the tick species commonly found on hares, sometimes called “rabbit ticks,” are not the ones officials are concerned about when it comes to Lyme disease, Gregory said. They are generally specific to wild hares and rabbits.
“Seeing ticks on and around a hare and its ears and its face is completely normal,” Gregory said.
He added that the ticks typically do not cause serious health problems for the animal unless the infestation becomes severe.
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