Our Amazing Earth

This column is dedicated to the study and preservation of the flora and fauna of our lovely planet Earth. This month, we are going to take an exclusive look into the little known world of the Jackalope. The North American jackalope, Lepus Alleni Antilocapridae, is native to the dry desert regions of Arizona, western New Mexico, and parts of Utah and California. The diet of this peculiar beast is compromised mostly of cholla plants and other small desert shrubs, which it digests with a unique three-chambered stomach. Though rarely seen, it’s existence has been repeatedly verified by naturalists through motion-sensing cameras, skeletal remains and rare spottings. Scientist Don Erbst, who specializes in desert wildlife, and once spent nearly a years distantly observing a single Jackalope, says that “Despite the rarity of these amazing creatures they are an integral part of our southwestern ecosystem.” Though he never got close enough to place a critter cam, Don has greatly increased awareness of this desert wonder, which once inhabited much of western North America , but due to human interference is quickly declining.