It’s in your nature: Rabbits

One of the most common and most numerous of the mammals in our state and region is the Eastern cottontail rabbit. It may surprise you, but it is not a type of rodent. It belongs in the order lagomorpha, not order rodentia. The “cottontail” does have a close relative, the varying hare, which is still found in a few remote Pocono Plateau wooded swamps and rhododendron thickets.

Rabbits, like the meadow vole, are very important food for many predators. Rabbits are preyed upon by snakes, fox, coyotes, hawks, owls, stray cats and, to some extent, hunters. Fortunately for the rabbits, their population seems to remain steady due to their reproductive rates. A female (doe) rabbit will have a litter nearly every month beginning in April.

In my grass mowing this year, I “clipped” open a rabbit nest on Sept. 3. The nest contained six rabbits. I suspect they still had two or three days to remain there until venturing out on their own.

I have heard the term rabbit hole used in conversation, and that is a misconception. The only digging a rabbit does is to neatly dig a shallow depression (4 inches deep) which she cleverly disguises. She lines that depression with some dry grass and hair plucked from her belly.

The young remain in the nest for about 16-18 days while the doe returns to nurse them, usually two or three times in a 24-hour time frame. Some rabbits from the first litter in April will be sexually mature by late summer and they too can breed. Rabbit numbers quickly rebound from their 20 to 30 young each year.

Key to the cottontails’ survival is having good “cover” in which to hide and finding plenty of food. Brushy fields, woodlots, even suburban backyards will sustain rabbits. They don’t survive well in old growth forests where little sunlight reaches the forest floor. Little nourishing vegetation or cover would be available there. Likewise, today’s farming has reduced their habitat options where little fence row vegetation survives. If you have a small parcel of land, building brush piles each fall will both feed them and hide them from potential danger.

Rabbits never stray far from where they were born, and in fact most seldom leave their 1- or 2-acre birth area. Winter offers them some hardships where snow covered ground makes them easier to spot by predators. However, if woodchuck burrows are found in their range, the “cottontails” will scurry into them when chased or “hole up” briefly during the coldest temperatures. Rabbits favor herbaceous plants such as clovers and plantain, but survive in winter by eating green briar shoots, bark of trees and whatever softer plants aren’t buried by snow.

Rabbits do blend in well with their surroundings, and small game hunters can attest to that. Sometimes they are standing within a few feet of one neatly hidden in a depression among the fallen leaves. If you have a young orchard or young ornamental trees, note that in winter they can cause significant damage by barking the trunks and lower limbs.

Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: One serious problem our black bears face is _____. A. mange, B. rabies, C. chronic wasting disease.

Last Week’s Trivia Answer: The average life span of a cottontail is about one year.

Contact Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com.