With an almost Looney Tunes approach, biologists tried all sorts of methods — nets, night vision googles, camouflaged blinds — to catch the elusive jackrabbits. They finally caught about ten, who are now being tracked with satellite collars.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is studying western Alaska’s dwindling population of Alaska hares, more commonly known as jackrabbits. Researchers don’t yet know why the population has been decreasing, and they need more information about the species to find out.
Barger wants to know how many jackrabbits are left in western Alaska, what they eat and where they go. But in order to answer those questions, he had to count and catch some. Barger and his team went to seven different locations within the jackrabbits range, spanning from Bristol Bay to just north of Kotzebue. They have so far identified fewer than 100 hares in the Nome area, fewer than 20 in Ekuk near Bristol Bay, and about ten in the Kotzebue area. Alaska hares are distinct from snowshoe hares mainly because of their size. Jackrabbits are two to three times bigger than the snowshoe, according to Barger.
“Now it starts to get a little complicated,” Barger said. “A string is attached to the doors, and that string is held up by a nail that’s wrapped with some wire. The nail is then connected by a string down to the bottom of a rat trap and then a thin monofilament fishing line goes from the trigger of the rat trap and runs all the way across the bait pile at the bottom of the net.”
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