Rabbits from southern Arizona in captivity consumed daily about one-fourth pound of alfalfa and rolled barley or about the same amount of native forage. In open juniper woodland, blacktail numbers are relatively low. When junipers are cleared, as has been the case in many places in the Southwest, the gras ses may become more extensive, and black-tailed jack rabbits will become far more abundant. These blacktails will be competing with the livestock for thi s new crop of grasses and the gain for the livestock may be less than expected. Little is known of the social habits of this species.
Courtship involves prolonged chases of the female by the male.
Ovulation is induced by copulation , as in most leporids. As in all Lepus , the young are born fully furred an d with their eyes open, and they are able to follow the mother soon after birth. By ten days of age the young begin taking solid food, and after ten week s of growth they have attained 90 percent of adult size. Most females in Arizona have more than one litter per year. Some authors suggest that there may b e only a two-week period between pregnancies.