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Rabbits
Cottontail
rabbits are abundant in rural as well as urban areas. They are
often one of just a few wild animals
recognized
by many city children. They are definitely part of nature, so
let's learn a bit more about them.
Description
Eastern
cottontail rabbits are easily identified by their cotton-puff
tail. They have brown, black, and tan banded hairs which gives a
tweedy look to their fur. Most people don't notice the orange
patch on the back of their neck. Cottontails have large ears and
large hind feet. All rabbits have large front teeth (incisors)
with peg-like teeth located just behind them.
What
Do Rabbits Eat
Summer
food consists of green grasses, legumes, and various other herbs
or forbs. Many city backyards provide these necessities. During
winter periods with little snow rabbits eat grasses and other
plants. Crops such as goldenrod, chickweed, clover, grass, alalfa,
wheat, rye, beans, lettuce and fruits all provide food for
rabbits. Some even resort to decayed animal flesh and insect pupa
when other food is lacking.
Rabbits
practice coprophagy. They rapidly consume large amounts of green
plants during their dawn and sunset feeding times but plant
material is hard to digest. Rabbits pass two types of feces (body
wastes). One kind is soft and greenish in color. This type is
eaten again (sometimes directly from the anus) so the rabbit can
absorb all available nutrients from its food by digesting it
twice. Vitamin C is absorbed during the second trip through the
digestive system. The other kind of feces is the hard, dark
colored pellets commonly seen.
Family
Structure
Rabbits
are very prolific if food is abundant. Courtship behavior include
behaviors such as sitting and staring at each other, chasing, and
wild leaping. Male rabbits will breed with any female they happen
to meet but females only breed with one male.
Rabbits
are born 28 days after mating. The female mates again shortly
after giving birth. This can result in several families per
summer. The female builds a nest by digging a shallow depression
in the ground. She lines it with dead grasses and fur. A roof of
dead grasses and fur covers the nest to protect it from rain and
other weather conditions. These nests may be found in lawns,
unmowed meadows, and under bushes.
Rabbits
are born completely naked, blind and helpless. They nurse for 3
weeks after birth before going out on their own. Female
cottontails nurse their litter just before dawn and just after
sunset. They open the roof of the nest and lay over the top of it
so the young can reach the mother's nipples for nursing. Then she
covers the young up again to protect them from weather and
predators.
Rabbits
are most active at dawn and dusk. They spend the rest of the day
resting in hollows called forms where overhead cover such as a
bush protects the rabbit from birds of prey. Rabbits frequently
use woodchuck, skunk or badger burrows during winter months and
sunbathe in any nearby sunny spots.
Signs
of rabbit presence in the winter include shrubs or seedlings
cleanly nipped off at the snowline to about 24 inches above the
snowline, piles of their round, dark colored droppings, and of
course, their tracks. This practice of nipping off seedlings is
one reason gardeners consider them a pest.
Rabbits
make soft grunts when taking care of their young. They also talk
by thumping their hind feet (remember Thumper in Bambi?). If
attacked by a predator, they make a scream that has been compared
to the cry of a human baby. Rabbits are very cautious animals.
Their large eyes provide vision over a wide area its large ears
pick up even faint sounds. If a strange sound is heard, the rabbit
instantly stops all movement to avoid being noticed. If that
fails, the rabbit runs fast, using its powerful hind legs to
escape. They rapidly hop away in a zig-zag fashion which makes
them harder to catch. A rabbit that cannot escape may fight, using
its hind feet to make quick blows and deep scratches on the
attacker.
Rabbits
position their bodies in different ways to communicate with other
rabbits. If the rabbit sits up or stands on its hind legs and
holds its ears upright, it is showing an alert posture. When
rabbits lay their ears down along their back and squat close to
the ground, they are being submissive to another rabbit with a
higher social status. Rabbits only defend home territories during
breeding and nesting season. Then they may fight off other rabbits
that come into their territories.
Rabbits
and Humans
Rabbits
are primary consumers because they convert plants into meat as
they eat. This makes them valuable to us because they also serve
as prey for fox and other animals we use for fur. Many young
hunters learn to hunt rabbit before moving up to other game.
Rabbits
can become serious pests for any gardener, homeowner, nursery
owner, or orchard owner. They destroy many vegetable plants,
ornamental bushes and young trees including fruit trees. My
carnations have never bloomed for me because rabbits eat the buds
just before they open. Years with high rabbit populations often
mean fewer flowers for the gardener.
Rabbits
often injure shrubs or young trees by their winter feeding habits.
If they to girdle (chew completely around) the shrub's main trunk
or lower portion of the branches, nutrients are not able to travel
to the upper branches and leaves thus killing the shrub.
We
have several choices. If living in rural areas, perhaps hunting
rabbits will lower their population levels on your property.
However, in the city, this option is not available. You may resort
to traps (talk to your humane society or cooperative extension
office) to live trap them and release in another area. Another
option is to provide enough food that they don't need to eat your
treasured flowers. Several other control options are discussed in
this
The Cottage key is dedicated to making your
leisure life easier. Below you will find a list of products
focusing on repelling animals or humanely trapping and removal of
un-wanted Rodents, Small Mammals, Insects and Snakes.
Repellents
|
Application |
Pest Solution |
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Repels woodchucks, gophers,
groundhogs |
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Repels skunks, groundhogs,
squirrels, raccoons, dogs and cats |
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Repels Skunks, Groundhogs,
Squirrels, Raccoon, Dogs & Cats |
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Repels Skunks, Groundhogs,
Squirrels, Raccoon, Dogs & Cats |
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Birdscapes Critter Ridder |
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birdfeeders, garbage cans,
and other surfaces against nuisance animals such as dogs,
cats, groundhogs, squirrels, raccoons, and skunks |
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Humane
Live Traps
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