Snowshoe hare feet ?

[tjm]

11 minutes ago, BilletHead said:

If you only eat rabbit, you will lose body weight. 

that's what old Pliny meant by becoming sexy.

[BilletHead]

2 minutes ago, tjm said:

that's what old Pliny meant by becoming sexy.

           When I was a newly married young buck, I acted like a rabbit . 

[fishinwrench]

So, in all of this recent hare study....has anyone run across anything confirming that Snowshoe hare feet retain bodily fluids that resist water absorption?  

I'm betting not. 🤔

[fishinwrench]

I want to start an Angling Myth Buster thread.   

Snowshoe hare feet ?

CDC ?

Fluorocarbon ? 

Knot strength ?

Barometric pressure ?

Ect. Ect. ....

 

Let's get to the bottom of these things before it warms up again.  😁

 

[Johnsfolly]

22 minutes ago, fishinwrench said:

So, in all of this recent hare study....has anyone run across anything confirming that Snowshoe hare feet retain bodily fluids that resist water absorption?  

I'm betting not. 🤔

"A snowshoe's four toes are large and positioned wide apart. The bottoms of the toes and the soles of the big feet are covered with coarse hair that grows long in winter, making "snowshoes" that support the hare in deep snow and give it traction on icy crusts." Found on PA Game commission website.

I thought when reading this parapgraph that maybe it is the coarseness of the hair that resists water absorption or if it is hollow like polar bear hair and thus is more bouyant.

Found this at the following: Fly Angler's OnLine "Beginning Fly Tying Part 28" (flyanglersonline.com)

 

The title of this week's session does not have a typo in it. This week we'll look at flies that use snowshoe hare foot hairs for the wing. Yes, I said foot hairs. The bottom of the hind feet of snowshoe hares have long, buoyant, kink resistant hair that floats like hollow hair when used in flies, especially in wings.

 

The problem with hollow hair like elk, deer and moose is that it's hollow and kinks or breaks easily. It floats like a cork, but after a few fish, it's usually kinked and frayed beyond use. CDC is a great material, but floatants and fish slime can foul the barbules and reduce the buoyant characteristics of the CDC. But the hair on the bottom of a snowshoe hare's foot is different. It's buoyant like elk hair, won't foul like CDC, and won't kink or break like most hollow hairs.

 

Most snowshoe hare feet are white, but if you can find one that was taken during the summer or fall before the color change, you can usually get hair that's a light chocolate dun color. If you desire any other color, you can use a waterproof marker to color the hair.

[fishinwrench]

27 minutes ago, Johnsfolly said:

"A snowshoe's four toes are large and positioned wide apart. The bottoms of the toes and the soles of the big feet are covered with coarse hair that grows long in winter, making "snowshoes" that support the hare in deep snow and give it traction on icy crusts." Found on PA Game commission website.

I thought when reading this parapgraph that maybe it is the coarseness of the hair that resists water absorption or if it is hollow like polar bear hair and thus is more bouyant.

Found this at the following: Fly Angler's OnLine "Beginning Fly Tying Part 28" (flyanglersonline.com)

 

The title of this week's session does not have a typo in it. This week we'll look at flies that use snowshoe hare foot hairs for the wing. Yes, I said foot hairs. The bottom of the hind feet of snowshoe hares have long, buoyant, kink resistant hair that floats like hollow hair when used in flies, especially in wings.

 

The problem with hollow hair like elk, deer and moose is that it's hollow and kinks or breaks easily. It floats like a cork, but after a few fish, it's usually kinked and frayed beyond use. CDC is a great material, but floatants and fish slime can foul the barbules and reduce the buoyant characteristics of the CDC. But the hair on the bottom of a snowshoe hare's foot is different. It's buoyant like elk hair, won't foul like CDC, and won't kink or break like most hollow hairs.

 

Most snowshoe hare feet are white, but if you can find one that was taken during the summer or fall before the color change, you can usually get hair that's a light chocolate dun color. If you desire any other color, you can use a waterproof marker to color the hair.

Here is the bottom of a rear snowshoe hare foot.   It's actually more of a fur than a hair IMO.   And if any of those individual fibers are hollow it would take an electron-microscope to determine it.  

Dip a pinch of it in water and it immediately gets soaked.   Drop the pinch of fur/hair in the bowl of water afterwards and it sinks right away.     

So either it's all BS, or Hareline is selling feet that are NOT from a majestic Snowshoe hare.       

[tjm]

I don't think water resistance in natural furs and feathers is due to any oils remaining on them through processing. Rather it is because of the cell structure of the hair, fur or feather itself. As an example your finger nails and skin are both keratin, but the structure of the nails make them more resistant water and wear than the skin is. Animals that live in the water have fur that is more water resistant than animals that live in the desert, or even in the woods. Cut a strip of beaver back or otter back and a strip of rabbit back and just chuck them into a tub of water until the become saturated, which soaks up more water? I've never done this but my money is on the bunny getting wet first. It's protein structure that makes mink shiny not oil.

Go for the myth busting. Start with the contrary facts and let the believers prove the myth true. it'll be an interesting read. Add "dead drift" and "drag free drift" to your list. And "fly rod line rating".

[Johnsfolly]

32 minutes ago, fishinwrench said:

majestic Snowshoe hare

Or not from one with a winter coat😉.

I don't tie flies. So these may be silly questions. Do elk hairs sink in the same way that you tested the snowshoe hare hairs? On a fly are the hairs likely be laying on water surface lengthwise or are the tips of many hairs pointing towards the surface? If the latter, then you might not be able to test the bouyancy without tying it to a fly.

[tjm]

I don't recall ever reading that hare hair was hollow.

Your foot doesn't look much like the pair I have, mine show coarse guard hair with dense under fur. That long wispy stuff looks more like what I got as Icelandic sheep. I like the hi-vis color though. What dye turned it that shade? surely not a blue tint?

For the Usual I took the clipping from between the toes, pulled the under fur out of the hair and saved it for dubbing.  Similar to combing the fur out of deer hair. For a small caddis I might take the clipping from the leg or the rear of the foot where it would be finer textured but possibly less buoyant. the clipping needs be very small ime.

  I'm not at all sure that dipping a pinch of fur has any relevance to a finished fly, it's not a test that has ever occurred to me, maybe I'll try that some time with various materials.

[fishinwrench]

45 minutes ago, Johnsfolly said:

So these may be silly questions. Do elk hairs sink in the same way that you tested the snowshoe hare hairs?

No.  You can dunk elk/deer body hair, let it go and it will pop right to the surface.   It would take hours of submersion before it would sink on its own.

45 minutes ago, Johnsfolly said:

On a fly are the hairs likely be laying on water surface lengthwise or are the tips of many hairs pointing towards the surface? If the latter, then you might not be able to test the bouyancy without tying it to a fly.

Shouldn't matter.  Plug one end of a soda straw and it takes considerable effort to get it to sink. Even a hypodermic needle won't drip water until force is applied.  Water isn't THAT thin.

 

The test to see if a hair is hollow, is to press down on the center of it.  If both ends pop skyward then it is either hollow or has a softer spongy core