Background: The snowshoe hare is the lynx's main food source, so the two species are tightly interdependent. When the hare is scarce, the lynx feeds on mice, voles, squirrels, and carrion, but these prey do not sufficiently meet its needs, so it is more vulnerable to starvation & predation. Thus, when hares decrease the lynx population also decreases. After a time lag, the hare  population rebounds because of less lynx predation. The lynx population, in turn, rebounds. This repeated cycle shows a pattern found in many predator-prey relationships.