PA Game Commission is having rabbit management issues; here’s how you can help

(WHTM) — The Pennsylvania Game Commission is asking all cottontail rabbit and snowshoe hare hunters for help regarding a rapidly spreading virus and snowshoe hare distribution and coloration.

Report Mortalities of RHDV2

Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus 2 (RHDV2) is a highly contagious virus that poses a serious threat to the state’s rabbits and hares due to its high mortality rates (75-100% of local populations). There is no specific treatment for RHDV2 and it can remain on the landscape for months.

The Game Commission says the detection of RHDV2’s possible presence and immediate removal of suspect carcasses is the best way to stop its spread.

The Game Commission is asking hunters—and anyone else—who find two or more dead hares or rabbits at the same location with an unknown cause of death to report that by calling 1-833-PGC-WILD or by using the Game Commission’s online Wildlife Health Survey reporting tool here .

The Game Commission adds that RHDV2 poses no human health risk, however multiple sick or dead hares in one place can indicate tularemia or plague, which can cause serious illness in humans. Domestic hare and rabbit owners with questions about this disease should contact their veterinarians, who can report suspect animals to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal Health at 717-772-2852 , option 1. Calls can be made anytime 24/7. Pets should also be kept from the virus.

The virus has only been detected in Pennsylvania once before, in a domestic facility in Uniontown, Fayette County. It has never been found in wild populations, per the Game Commission.

Become a Snowshoe Hare Cooperator

The Game Commission also trying to better determine where snowshoe hares exist on the Pennsylvania landscape, and if they’re still turning all white in winter to blend in with the snow and escape predators.

The agency’s vehicle for finding answers is the Snowshoe Hare Cooperator program. Entering its third year, the program allows hunters to participate by emailing their CID number or name, mailing address, and phone number to hares@pa.gov . They are then provided a pocket card, among other things, on which they’re asked to record the dates they hunt hares, the county or Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) they hunt in, the number of hours hunted, and the number of hares flushed and number harvested.

Additionally, hunters are asked whether those hares were all white and, if not, what they looked like. The PGC says Pennsylvania is one of the few states where brown hares have been reported in winter and the only state where unique winter pelt patterns, such as brown eye rings and brown ears, have been detected.

Hunters send in answers using a postage-paid mailer at the season’s end. In return, they get a newsletter each fall providing summaries of survey results (see last year’s here ) and updates on hare management and other relevant topics.

The PGC adds that the cooperator program has already revealed some interesting data, such as hunters flushing and harvesting hares in more places than had been detected using other methods. But the more hunters who participate in the program, the better, more complete, the information collected will be.

That’s true with RHDV2 monitoring, as well. More information from more people in more places is better than less.

The PGC says if you are passionate about hunting rabbits or hares, or enjoy seeing them, this is a chance to get involved in conservation tangibly.

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