Mammal Web Page

Chelsi's Cottontail Rabbit Web Page!


Picture from: http://enature.com/
Cottontail rabbit
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Mammalia
Order	Lagomorpha
Family	Leporidea
Genus	Sylvilagus
Species	floridanus

Picture from: wildwnc.org/af/ easterncottontailrabbit.html

Description

The cottontail is grayish-brown, They have a black forehead with a white spot between there eyes. They have long ears, rust color on it's nape. There tails are cottony white. Their feet are white and they weigh up to 4 pounds.

Habitat

The cottontail lives in brushy shelters, for example: around a bike path. It also likes to live in old abandon fields they also like woods, cultivated areas they really like living around thickets and brush piles.

Picture from: dnr.state.il.us/lands/education/ MAMMALS/rabbit.htm

Range

The cottontail lives in the Eastern United States, except for New England, they also live in west through North Dakota, Kansas, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

Food

They eat grass, they eat tree bark and they like to eat vegetables out of people's gardens. The cottontail also likes to eat string beans so much that people with that in their garden have to put wire around it.

Life cycle

The cottontail mates in February. The first litter of 4 to 7 bunnies are born. The bunnies are born about 26 to 28 days later. The bunnies weigh up to 28 grams and they are hairless. They also have closed ears and eyes. After a week they have fur and they can see. Then they take their first hops out of the nest. The cottontail lives up to almost 2 years.

Survival

The rabbits need food to survive they also need water and shelters. They need the shelter for their babies and to stay safe. The rabbits need the water to drink so they can survive. They also need the food to stay alive.

Facts

~The eastern Cottontail is the most wildly distributed animal in north America.~

~Cottontails are common from the coast to the mountains.~

~The amount of litters per year are 2-5 mostly 3.~

Human Impact

Negative-Cottontails are a pest to the gardeners and a threat to orchards.

Positive-The eastern cottontail is abundant and edible.