Eastern Cottontail Rabbit - Sylvilagus Floridanus

The Eastern Cottontail Rabbit is native to Minnesota and most of the northern and eastern United States. It is an abundant animal and is usually found in areas bordering woods and open fields. One of the reasons the cottontail is so abundant is because it is able to mate and bear multiple young several times a year. The female cottontail can have four litters of young a year, each litter with up to 9 babies; although litters typically have 4 or 5 bunnies.

So each female rabbit can easily produce 20-25 young rabbits every year. Those young rabbits are able to mate when they are just 3 months old. This illustrates why predators are so vital in the food chain. Without heavy and consistent predation on cottontail rabbits, we'd quickly be overrun!

In the summertime, the cottontail eats green grasses and clover. In wintertime it eats bark, buds and twigs. It prefers to be in the open, where it can use its excellent hearing and sight to spot predators before it is spotted itself.  It will typically freeze if it spots a predator, because its speckled brown coat blends in well background leaves, grass and dirt.

If it is spotted by a predator, the Eastern Cottontail will dart off in a zig-zag pattern.  This makes it difficult for a predator to follow its scent trail.  If in a high speed, close pursuit chase, the rabbit can execute these zip-zag movements quickly and leap 10-15 feet at a time.  If captured, its final defense is a high pitched squeal which can confuse its captor or startle it into releasing the rabbit.