Snowshoe hares have been disappearing from parts of their southern range for some time now. In the Sandhill State Wildlife Area in Wisconsin, the small mammals were extirpated in the early 1990s. In subsequent years, other wildlife also near the southern end of their ranges began to see population effects. Ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) numbers dropped, while the ages of porcupines (Erethizon dorsatum) in their populations began to get older and older, with few juveniles on the landscape.
Researchers wondered if these three things were related—they suspected that the disappearance of snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) on the landscape due to climate change might have prompted bobcats (Lynx rufus), coyotes (Canis latrans) fishers (Pekania pennanti), and avian predators like great-horned owls (Bubo virginianus) and barred owls (Strix varia) to change their preferred diet to these alternative prey species.
The impacts of snowshoe hare extirpation cascades through ecosystem - The Wildlife Society
Researchers wondered if these three things were related—they suspected that the disappearance of snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) on the landscape due to climate change might have prompted bobcats (Lynx rufus), coyotes (Canis latrans) fishers (Pekania pennanti), and avian predators like great-horned owls (Bubo virginianus) and barred owls (Strix varia) to change their preferred diet to these alternative prey species.
The impacts of snowshoe hare extirpation cascades through ecosystem - The Wildlife Society