Few animals are as content to sit unmoving for as long as
rabbits are. As prey animals, rabbits go to extremes not to
advertise themselves as available to be eaten—but that isn't to
say they don't let their guard down once in a while. If lucky,
the patient observer may see them in the early morning or
evening hours in spirited and spontaneous chases of other
rabbits, or energetically hopping and leaping about—revealing
this animal's playful nature. While rabbits lead lives full of
concern and fear, they sometimes display a
joie de vivre
that we can envy.
Rabbits are commonly misunderstood to be rodents, but they
actually belong to their own order and are properly called
lagomorphs. Lagomorphs are found in both the Old and New
Worlds, with the New World species distinguished between "true"
rabbits (genus Sylvilagus) and hares and jackrabbits
(genus Lepus). While many people mistakenly believe that
wild rabbits and domesticated pet rabbits are the same species,
the truth is that the domesticated rabbit (Oryctolagus
cuniculus) belongs to another genus entirely and is only
distantly related to his wild brethren.
Of the wild species in the United States, there are 14
species of true rabbits, of which the eastern cottontail
(Sylvilagus floridanus) is the most widely distributed
and familiar. Eastern cottontails have been introduced to the
Pacific Northwest and are widespread enough throughout the
South and Midwest to make the descriptor "eastern" misleading.
Cottontails vary in color from gray to brown and have large
hind feet and ears—which also function as body heat regulators,
since rabbits don't pant or sweat—and short fluffy tails. They
vary in size, but on the whole are rather small animals,
averaging about a foot long and weighing just two to three
pounds. Rabbits are crepuscular, meaning they're most
active at dusk and dawn.
Cottontails are generally found in brushy hedgerows and the
edges of wooded areas with dense cover, but they also do well
in suburban and urban areas where lawns, gardens, and various
shrubs meet their habitat requirements. Rabbits feed on leafy
plants during the growing season and the buds and bark of woody
plants in the winter. Besides the plants essential to their
diet, rabbits also need safe resting places and cover in which
to escape from predators.
Famous for their breeding abilities, cottontails breed from
February through September in the north. Gestation is about 28
days. Three to four litters of four or five young ("bunnies")
are born each year. Young are born helpless in a shallow
depression lined with grass and mother's fur, but they grow
rapidly and are weaned when less than half the size of the
adult.
They may live up to two years in the wild, but where
predators are numerous they seldom survive more than one year.
However, it is important to recognize the role that predation
plays in keeping rabbit populations in balance. Hawks and owls
are important avian predators, and foxes, raccoons, skunks, and
opossums are mammals that prey on rabbits.
