Jackalope

Social Structure

• They tend to live in small groups to aid in defense, but not too large so there is not much competion for food.

• Groups consist mainly of 1-2 breeding pairs and their offspring.  The females are often related to each other

• There are no specific roles within the group.

• The groups are led by the breeding pairs with equal partnership between males and females

• The group is social, sharing chores of looking for predators and finding food sources

Reproduction

• Mating usually happens around March with the females giving birth in early May

• Male Jackalopes fight for the right mate each spring

• Mating is initiated by the male when he clips flowers from surrounding plants and presents them to the female.  The female will gather the flowers in her den a food source for when she is gestating

• Typical female gives birth to 4-6 offspring at a time.  

• There are no unique characteristics to the mating 

Developement

• The young are helpless for the first 6 weeks.  They will emerge from the den at 6 weeks but are looked after by the entire group.  They become fully independent at 6 months

• They reach sexual maturity at about 1 year of age

• In their first six weeks they spend their time playing thumb wars with their litter mates.

• From 6 weeks to 6 months, they spend their time rolling thier eyes at their parents and sneeking out for parties.

• Their horns do not start forming until their are about 6 months old and take about 4 months to completely form

• The developement is pretty much the same from males and females, although males tend to make more stupid decisions in their rebellious stage