![]() The desert cottontail is 12 to 15 inches long, weighs 1 1/2 to 2 3/4 pounds, and has pale gray fur with yellow tints. The desert cottontail rabbit and brush rabbit are distinguished from jackrabbits by their smaller size and shorter ears. It has a grayish-brown body, long black-tipped ears, relatively long front legs, and even longer hind legs. The jackrabbit is about as large as a house cat, weighing 3 to 7 pounds with a body length of 17 to 21 inches. Because of its greater size and abundance, the jackrabbit is the most destructive. bachmani-are widespread and cause the majority of problems. Seven species of rabbits are found in California and three of these species-the black-tailed hare or jackrabbit, Lepus californicus, the desert cottontail, Sylvilagus audubonii, and the brush rabbit, S. Rabbits are a type of animal people might enjoy seeing in the wild, but they also are an animal that can be very destructive to gardens and landscaped areas. Various chemical repellents, such as putrescent egg solids, can reduce or prevent rabbit damage.The most long-term, effective way to protect plantings from rabbit damage is to build a fence.Most rabbit damage is close to the ground and will show a characteristic diagonal 45° cut from their incisors.Rabbits can be very destructive to gardens and landscaped areas.But the eastern cottontail population remains stable since these rabbits breed several times a year and have plenty of babies, called kits, in each litter. AW, BABIES!Įven with their sniffing skills and impressive speed, many rabbits are still snatched by predators. An eastern cottontail rabbit can twitch its nose between 20 to 120 times a minute. They have about 100 million scent receptors in their noses, which they twitch to expose as many of the scent receptors as possible to sniff out danger. Their excellent sense of smell helps them stay safe too. If these don’t work, rabbits will try to fight off a predator by biting and kicking with their powerful back legs. Sometimes they freeze in place to blend in with their environment so predators can’t see them. Rabbits don’t always leap away from danger, though. All the zigging and zagging they do makes it harder for other animals to catch them. When an eastern cottontail faces a predator-which include hawks, owls, foxes, snakes, and even dogs and cats-it uses its speed to keep it safe, sometimes hopping up to 18 miles an hour. (That’s why farmers and gardeners don’t like them very much!) During the winter, these rabbits prefer to eat bark and twigs. They snack on grass and love garden greens like peas and lettuce. But sometimes they make their nests in yards and parks near more people.Įastern cottontails stay mostly hidden during the day but come out at night to eat. These rabbits often live on the edges of fields, farms, and other open spaces far from highly populated areas. ![]() ![]() They can be found from Canada to South America in the United States, their range stretches from the East Coast to the Midwest. GOT ROOM IN YOUR GARDEN?Įastern cottontail rabbits-named for their short, cotton-ball-like tails-are the most common species of cottontail rabbits. The speedy rabbit zooms into the nearby woods, easily escaping the potential predator. An eastern cottontail rabbit darts out of the bushes, zigging and zagging to throw the surprised fox off of its trail. It pads over to the bushes when a streak of brown flashes in the greenery. A red fox sneaks into the yard, its nose in the air, sniffing loudly-it smells something. The sun sets over a quiet backyard garden. ![]()
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