Eastern Cottontail Wild Rabbits
The Eastern Cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus) is a New World wild rabbit of that belongs to the Cottontails genus ‘Sylvilagus’. These rabbits are members of the Leporidae family, which they share with hares, and belong to the Order ‘Lagomorpha’ along with Pikas.
The Eastern Cottontail is probably one of the most common wild rabbits in North America. In my opinion this rabbit is one of the prettiest wild rabbits; they have red-brown or grey-brown fur and have quite a chunky build. They have long ears and large hind feet; their tail has a rusty-coloured patch on it and is white on the underside. It looks very similar to a hare, apart from the rabbit has brown-grey colouring around its head and neck, which hares do not usually have. In the winter time the Eastern Cottontail’s fur tends to look more grey than brown or red.
It lives in meadowland and shrub land and can be found in parts of Canada, Mexico, Southern and Central America. The Eastern Cottontail is not native to New England, but since being introduced there, it is now one of the most common species and competes with the New England Cottontail rabbit.
Eastern Cottontails eat a range of grasses and their seeds, fruits, vegetables and barks (which they mainly gnaw to get nourishment). They are nocturnal and do not hibernate in the winter, when they eat dogwoods and maple trees.
Mating between these rabbits generally starts in February and lasts until October, although this depends on the weather. Females can up to 7 litters of young a year, 3-4 litters being the average, with each litter containing 1-12 kittens. These babies are born into grass nests that are often lined with the mother’s fur. As soon as the mother’s young are weaned (at about three weeks), she is able to mate again. At three weeks of age the kittens will leave the nest and are ready to reproduce at around three months of age.
Only 20-25% of eastern Cottontail rabbit babies survive to to their first year as many get caught by the many predators: hawks (mainly Red-Tailed Hawks, eagles, owls (especially great horned owls), foxes and bobcats are just a few. In total around 85% of the Eastern Cottontail adults and young are killed each year, this is why the large litters of kits are significantly important.
The pictures are from Wikipedia.
August 10, 2010
· 
Maddia (Admin) · 
4 Comments
Tags: eastern cottontail rabbits, wild baby rabbits, wild rabbits · Posted in: Rabbit Breeds, Wild Rabbits
4 Responses
Awesome pictures! That is one cute rabbit!
I have been absent for a while, but now I remember why I used to love this blog. Thank you, I’ll try and check back more often.
Oooh, you’re such an inspiration. I love this blog!
Very interesting and so colorful wild rabbits, just hope more people support to protect them and their habitat.