Eastern Cottontails (Sylvilagus floridanus), familiar to almost
everyone, are commonly found in the Kittatinny-Shawangunk raptor corridor. They
measure up to 19 inches in length, weigh up to 3.3 pounds, and generally number
from 3 to 5 per acre. These rabbits are brown or gray, have white underparts, a
buffy throat, a distinctive rusty patch on the nape, and a white ring circling
the eye. There are two annual molts. The spring molt occurs from March to
August, and the autumn molt begins late in September and produces the winter
pelage (not white) early in November.
Habitats occupied by Eastern Cottontails range from agricultural areas to
thickets, and logged woodlands. They generally do not occur in dense forest,
but they live in rural areas as well as suburban and urban parks.
Eastern Cottontails are prolific animals. After a 30 day gestation period,
the year's first litters arrive in March or April, with 3 to 8, typically 5,
animals in the litter. Between 5 and 7 litters are produced annually, resulting
in as many as 35 young rabbits annually. The newly born rabbits are about 4
inches long, naked, and blind. They are nursed by their mother early in the
morning and at dusk. The young animals open their eyes about a week after being
born, and they are weaned when about 5 weeks old. After leaving the nest, they
forage alone. Females from the litter can breed during their first season, but
males generally do not. Wild Eastern Cottontails usually do not live longer
than about 2 years.
Eastern Cottontails, juveniles in particular, experience high, natural and
human-inflicted (hunting) mortality rates. Mowing and plowing activities in
agricultural areas, and parks, also destroys many rabbits -- especially young
in the nest. Considerable numbers of Eastern Cottontails also are killed on
highways and rural roads.Finally, these mammals are preyed upon by the hawks
and owls, Striped Skunks, Raccoons, Minks, foxes, weasels, snakes, and domestic
dogs and cats. Eastern Cottontails also can carry tularemia, so-called "rabbit
fever," which is spread by tick bites and can be transmitted to humans
upon contact with sick rabbits.
The diet of Eastern Cottontails is varied. When vegetable gardens are
available, rabbits prefer lettuce, cabbage, green beans, and peas. Elsewhere
they feed on grasses, dandelion leaves, and herbaceous vegetation. Alfalfa and
clover are preferred. In winter, the diet changes to bark of woody plants such
as apple, sumac, wild black cherry, and blackberry. During hard winters, if
food is difficult to obtain, rabbits can cause damage or death to shrubs and
fruit trees by girdling them. When rabbit-caused girdling occurrs, large teeth
marks are seen high above snow level, and bark often hangs in strips. In many
cases, however, mice actually caused much of the tree damage.
Sugested Reading
Beard, Karl
1983 Checklist of Mammals of the Northern Shawangunk Mountains of Ulster
County, N. Y. Including the Mohonk Preserve and Minnewaska State Park. Mohonk
Preserve, Inc., New Paltz, N. Y.
Cahalane, V. H.
1947 Mammals of North America. Macmillan Co., New
York, N. Y.
Doutt, J. Kenneth, Caroline A. Heppenstall, and John E. Guilday
1966 Mammals of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Game Commission, Harrisburg, Pa.
Genoways, Hugh H.
1986 Causes for Species of Large Mammals to Become Threatened or Endangered.
In Endangered and Threatened Species Programs in Pennsylvania and Other States:
Causes, Issues and Management. Pennsylvania Academy of Science, Easton, Pa.
Pages 234-251.
Merritt, Joseph F.
1987 Guide to the Mammals of Pennsylvania. University of Pittsburgh Press,
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Poole, Earl L.
1932 A Survey of the Mammals of Berks County, Pennsylvania. Bulletin No. 13.
Reading Public Museum and Art Gallery, Reading, Pa.
Seton, Ernest Thompson
1929 Lives of Game Animals. Volume 4, Part 2. Doubleday, Doran &
Company, Inc.,Garden City, NY
Issued: June 1996. The Kittatinny Raptor Corridor Educational Handbook .
Copyright © 1996 by Wildlife Information Center, Inc. All rights reserved.