The Snowshoe Hare is a distinctive and easily recognized 'rabbit' because of its larger size, large "snowshoe' feet, long ears, and all white colouring in winter. Some low elevation populations in the Fraser River valley and the Cascades (areas with sporadic snow cover) are brown in winter (Nagorsen pers. comm. 2011). These smaller hares are currently recognized as a subspecies (
L. a. washingtonii), however genetic work is needed to assess this taxonomy.
In BC, the Snowshoe hare is found throughout the province, but does not occur on the coastal islands (Nagorsen 2005).