print     e-mail    go back

Cottontail Rabbits

Cottontail rabbits are among our most common mammals. They breed in a variety of man-made habitats, including farmland, suburban yards, and even in isolated, weedy patches in the city. Since both cottontails and humans exist in large numbers and are nearly ubiquitous, they interact frequently, particularly when rabbit populations peak in late summer and early fall.

NATURAL HISTORY
Massachusetts is home to two species of rabbit, the New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis) and the eastern cottontail (S. floridanus). The latter was introduced into the state before 1900 and is now the most common rabbit in Massachusetts. The native New England cottontail, however, probably as a consequence of this competition, has become rare throughout the region.

Although rabbits, along with hares and pikas, were once grouped with rodents (gnawing mammals such as mice, squirrels, and beavers), they are now placed in a separate group called lagomorphs, which is derived from the Greek word for hare.

IDENTIFICATION
The two species found in Massachusetts look very much alike. Both are brownish gray and molt their grizzled fur twice a year, but the color of the fur does not change remarkably with the season as it does in the snowshoe hare, which also occurs in Massachusetts. The New England cottontail has a darker back, a broad black stripe on the outer edge of the ear, and usually a black spot between the ears. The eastern cottontail differs only slightly. Its coat color is paler; it has a cinnamon-rust nape; the ear has a narrow black margin extending along the front edge and tip; and a white or light brown spot, never found in S. transitionalis, is present on the forehead.

BEHAVIOR
Cottontails are solitary creatures and are active mostly between dusk and dawn. Generally silent, rabbits may communicate by soft grunts and purrs and by thumping the ground with the hind feet. When caught by a predator, they can produce a bloodcurdling scream. To escape from enemies or to seek shelter from inclement weather, cottontails use any convenient natural or man-made cavity, such as a culvert, a dense thicket, or an existing burrow excavated by a woodchuck, fox, or skunk.

Wild cottontails have a life expectancy of less than two years. Nearly half the young die within a month of birth, chiefly because cottontails are important links in many food chains. Foxes, weasels, raccoons, minks, snakes, crows, several common species of hawks and owls, are all at least partially dependent on cottontails for food.

Cottontails do not dig their own burrows, nor do they hibernate. The average Massachusetts cottontail spends its entire life in an area of less than an acre and a half, although in the winter they may move a mile or so from their summer feeding area in order to obtain better cover or a new food supply.

FOOD
Cottontails will eat any vegetation from grass to bark, twigs, and buds. Rabbits prefer to eat tender young shoots whether clover, dandelions, or prize tulips, and they may also damage ornamental trees by eating the bark. In the vegetable garden their favorites are lettuce, beans, and beets, and their favorite fruits are strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries.

A special feature of rabbit nutrition is coprophagy or the ingestion of feces. When the rabbit defecates, some of its fecal pellets are green and moist and contain undigested food. The rabbit swallows these without chewing them. The repeated passage through the rabbit’s gut allows time for bacterial digestion to continue, and more nutrients are made available for absorption by the rabbit. The redigestion of food may be important for the survival of an herbivore that must often interrupt its feeding to flee a predator.

MATING
Sexually promiscuous and forming no lasting pair bond, Massachusetts cottontails may mate as early as mid-February and as late as September. The gestation period is less than thirty days, litters average five young (rarely as many as eight), and the female is usually receptive to mating soon after giving birth. One doe may produce three litters in a New England season.

NEST
When a doe cottontail is ready to give birth, she finds a convenient hole or rock crevice, or digs a shallow “scrape” (four inches or less in depth) in dry ground. A site with brushy cover may be sought, but it is not unusual to find a nest in a corner of a suburban lawn. The nest is lined with several layers of fur, grass, leaves, rabbit droppings, and perhaps a bit of paper or other trash. After the young are born, they are covered with a blanket of this material each time the female leaves the nest.

YOUNG
Newborn cottontails are about four inches long, weigh less than one ounce, are naked, blind, and deaf, and are therefore totally helpless. They mature rapidly, leaving the nest in just over two weeks and become completely independent by the time they are three to four weeks old. This early independence is belied by the size and appearance of a young rabbit, which is only four to five inches long when it first hops out of the nest and does not reach full size for about four months.

When compared with birds, rabbits do not seem to be very attentive parents. Males take no part whatever in the rearing process, and on average, the female suckles the young only three times per night, rarely visiting the nest otherwise. During the day, she usually rests in a hollow or “form” of her own making, which is twenty feet or so from the nest. This parental schedule explains why human observers often assume that rabbit nests have been abandoned.

SITUATIONS AND SOLUTIONS

COTTONTAILS IN GARDENS
Cottontails do not dig in the soil for bulbs or roots to eat, but can be a problem in gardens. Rabbit damage can be identified by foliage that has been nipped off sharply, leaving no ragged edges.

EXCLUSION

• To discourage cottontails, spread dried blood fertilizer around your flower beds or vegetable garden, and remove any piles of brush and debris that might serve as cover.
• For a serious problem, place an inexpensive two-foot-high fence of chicken wire (one-inch mesh is needed to keep out the smallest rabbits) around the garden with the bottom tight to the ground or buried underground a few inches.
• Protect ornamental shrubs by surrounding them with quarter-inch-mesh hardware cloth that extends higher than the rabbit can reach when snow is on the ground.

IF A NEST IS DISCOVERED
If a rabbit nest is discovered in a lawn or other location close to people or pets, by far the simplest solution is to tolerate its presence. This situation will last for a very brief time because young rabbits leave the nest very early in life – about two weeks after birth. No attempt should be made to relocate a nest as it is highly unlikely that the mother cottontail will succeed in finding it.

To protect the nest from lawn mowers etc., place three foot high stakes in a circle, at least eight feet from the nest and attach “caution tape” to each stake. This is a better solution than fencing because nest area will be visible and the movement of the young will not be restricted.

Keep pets and children away from the nest. Mammals, in contrast to birds, have an acute sense of smell and often reject young that have been handled by people.

BABY REMOVED FROM NEST
If a child brings in a rabbit removed from a nest, immediately return the cottontail to the nest. Wear gloves and handle the animal as little as possible to avoid transferring odor to it. If the rabbit has been handled, before placing it back in the nest, rub grass between your hands and then wipe your hands on the rabbit’s back. Hopefully this will conceal any human odor.

• If a rabbit seems to be in good health and is four or more inches long, no matter how small and vulnerable looking, it should be returned to where it was found or moved to an area in the yard with shrubbery or uncut grass.
• A rabbit that is injured, or truly an orphan, should be evaluated by a licensed wildlife rehabilitator – people trained and licensed by the state to care for injured or orphaned wildlife. Contact the Massachusetts Audubon Society’s Wildlife Information Line at 781-259-2150 for a list of rehabilitators. Attempts by non-professionals to rear young mammals, especially rabbits, nearly always end in failure, prolonged suffering for the animal, and unnecessary grief for the people involved.

COTTONTAILS AND RABIES
All mammals, including cottontails, are susceptible to rabies. Rabies is a viral disease that attacks the central nervous system and is invariably fatal to wildlife. The virus, found in the saliva of an infected animal, and transmitted through a bite or scratch, manifests itself in two forms: “furious” rabies and dumb rabies. The symptoms, which appear anytime from two weeks to three months after exposure and vary in each species, cause marked changes in behavior. An animal with the “furious” form can become aggressive, disoriented, and snap or bite at anything in its path; whereas, an animal with the “dumb” form is unnaturally tame or friendly.

If you suspect that you have been exposed to rabies, immediately wash the area with soap and water and seek medical attention. The treatment of rabies no longer requires the series of shots in the stomach, it is now quite simple. Notify the local animal-control officer if the animal is suspected of being rabid or the Massachusetts Department of Public Health at (617) 983-6800.

Good judgment and common sense will eliminate the chances of rabies posing a threat to people and their pets. Dogs and cats should be vaccinated against rabies. Avoid contact with wild animals and unfamiliar domestic animals, and be sensitive to unusual behavior patterns in pets. Obey state laws which make it illegal to possess or transport and relocate wildlife.

COTTONTAILS AND THE LAW
Relocating wildlife is illegal in Massachusetts. It is detrimental to the well-being of wildlife as well as the public. Unknowingly, sick animals may be transported and released in other locations, causing the spread of disease. Animals released in unfamiliar territory have a hard time surviving. They must compete with resident animals, and they have difficulty finding food and shelter. Furthermore, relocation is ineffective: each time a territory opens, there is always another cottontail “waiting in the wings.”

It is also against state law to possess wild birds and mammals. Wildlife rehabilitators are trained and licensed by the state to care for injured and orphaned wildlife. If you need the services of a rehabilitator contact MassWildlife (Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife ) at 508-366-4470, or the Massachusetts Audubon Society’s Wildlife Information Line at 781-259-2150.

Back to top