Snowshoe Hare Color Change I

“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18

I took this picture of a snowshoe hare last year whilst hiking the mountains with Star the Wonderdog. It was early springtime, and had there been much snow on the ground, the hare would have been difficult to see. As it was, I noticed it from quite a distance away. I couldn’t quite make out what the white patch was from where I stood, so I took this picture and just zoomed in with my camera to get a better look. Such is the advantage of modern technology.

A hare differs from a rabbit in several ways. In general, hares are bigger and faster than rabbits. They have longer feet and ears, and tend to live in solitude and above ground. Rabbits may live in colonies and have underground burrows for protection and rearing their offspring. The young of a hare are generally born with hair and able to see, while a young rabbit is hairless and born blind. Thus, a hare is able to manage on its own quicker than a rabbit of the same age. If they are really fortunate, they might live five years or more in the wild.

The snowshoe hare is so named not because it turns white in the winter, but because of its large, furry feet which help it run across the top of the snow. A snowshoe hare will change to a brown color later in the spring to help camouflage it from predators. Then in the autumn, its white winter coat will return for the same reason. It takes a little more than two months for the coat to fully change color.

In the Scripture above, God says our sins are like a red crimson stain before His eyes, but He alone is able to wash them and make them as white as snow. Later in Scripture, He tells us that it is only by the precious blood of His Son Jesus that our sins can be washed away and we can become new and as white as snow in His sight. And even though He created the snowshoe hare that can amazingly change colors with the seasons, it doesn’t take two months for Him to wash our sins away.

With God it only takes a moment.

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