Do plant secondary compounds determine feeding preferences of snowshoe hares?

Abstract

We investigated the food preferences of captive snowshoc hares (Lepus americanus) in winter to test three hypotheses proposed to explain food choices by hares: (1) that food choice is related to the protein content of twigs; 92) that defensive chemicals present in twigs are negatively correlated with hare food preferences; and (3) that hares eat less-preferred but protein-rich twigs when their diet is buffered by large amounts of palatable food. Hares exhibited striking and consistent preferences for different species and, in general, preferred mature twigs to juvenile growth stages. Preferences across species among mature twigs were not, however, the same as preferences for juvenile growth stages across species. None of the three hypotheses adequately explained food choice by hares. Hares did not (1) select twigs that were high in protein content. They also did not (2) consistently select twigs that were low in resins or phenols. Finally (3), hares generally ate less, not more of non-preferred twigs in the presence of a protein and energy rich alternative food, commercial rabbit chow. Food preferences of hares must presumably have some chemical basis, but no simple theory has yet explained what this is. We suggest that hares may not be under severe dietary constraints imposed by chemical defenses in winter.