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An eastern cottontail rabbit shows its mindfulness of its many predators through hearing, sight and smell — uplifted ears, alert eyes and twitching nose. Kentucky's rabbit populations
The New England cottontail is a medium-sized rabbit almost identical to the eastern cottontail. [8] [9] The two species look nearly identical, and can only be reliably distinguished by genetic testing of tissue, through fecal samples (i.e., of rabbit pellets), or by an examination of the rabbits' skulls, which shows a key morphological distinction: the frontonasal skull sutures of eastern ...
The Easter bunny isn't the only one hopping around this time of year.
The eastern cottontail is a very territorial animal. When chased, it runs in a zigzag pattern, running up to 18 mph (29 km/h). The cottontail prefers an area where it can be out in the open but hide quickly. Forests, swamps, thickets, bushes, or open areas where shelter is close by are optimal habitation sites for this species.
Cottontail rabbits typically only use their nose to move and adjust the position of the food that it places directly in front of its front paws on the ground. The cottontail will turn the food with its nose to find the cleanest part of the vegetation (free of sand and inedible parts) to begin its meal. The only time a cottontail uses its front ...
The marsh rabbit (Sylvilagus palustris) is a small cottontail rabbit found in marshes and swamps of coastal regions of the Eastern and Southern United States. It is a strong swimmer and found only near regions of water.
The mountain cottontail is extremely reproductive and they reproduce around of 2-5 litters per year. [6] Mean litter sizes average 4–6 kits per litter. [2] In California and Nevada, the average litter size is around 6.1, 4.7 for rabbits in Washington and Oregon, and 2.0 for those in British Columbia. [8]
Rabbits play an important part in the terrestrial food chain, eating a wide range of forbs, grasses, and herbs, and being part of the staple diet of many carnivorous species. Domestic rabbits can be litter box trained, and—assuming they are given sufficient room to run and a good diet—can live long lives as house pets.