Reproduction Snowshoe hares are born fully furred, open-eyed, and capable of hopping about almost immediately. Such precociousness is characteristic of hares in general, and is in marked contrast to the behaviour of young rabbits, which are born naked and blind. Young snowshoes nurse only once a day, usually in the evening, and are self-supporting at three weeks of age. They weigh about 57 g at birth, gain 0.45 kg within a month, and reach an average adult weight of 1.4 to 1.8 kg at five months. Adult females tend to weigh slightly 57 to 114 g more than adult males.
Snowshoes normally have four litters a year.
However, because Alaskan hares have a maximum of only three litters annually, they produce fewer young, whereas in the southeastern part of the range, litter sizes are smaller. There were major differences in yearly reproductive rates, with mean numbers of young per female ranging from 8 to 18. These annual differences mainly reflected variation in litter size and number of litters per year. The onset of breeding during any one year was closely synchronized within the hare population, but between one year and the next, breeding began as early as March 25 and as late as April 14. The gestation period for snowshoe hares in the wild was 35 days, with females remating within hours of giving birth.