Here you see one of our snowshoe hares caught – somewhat unusually – roaming in daytime yesterday:
Hares usually roam at night, but I think that this one couldn’t sleep due to disturbing weather predictions. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting that this year’s El Niǹo will cause a below-average snowfall and a milder, wetter winter for Maine and the rest of the Northeast this season.
Climate warming is decimating the hare population. Their coats are photo-sensitive and turn lighter and lighter as daylight diminishes into fall and winter. By winter, the hares are bright white, which is great for camouflage on snow-covered ground. But, when that ground is dark and the hares are roaming at night, they look like glowing lightbulbs to night-visioned owls, foxes and coyotes.
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on September 1, 2026.)