In this little stretch of park that runs between two housing developments, one of which is the home of my house, I've noticed that a warren of rabbits have been living. Earlier this afternoon I went out and decided to see if I could get some pictures of these rabbits (and a few of some ducks that happened to be hanging out at a local fountain). http://mystech.furchives.org/rabbit These images are all a bit large, over half a meg per image, and they should all be viewed at the full resolution of 1600x1200, don't worry the rabbits themselves are small and you won't have to look very much. I've been watching these rabbits for a while, and learning a bit about them. When I first started trying to find some information and figure out what kind of rabbits they were most sources said that they were likely Jackrabbits. I've since discoverd that they are acctualy desert cottontail rabbits. Jackrabbits are part of the hair family and significantly larger than these little guys, and they are also more solitary. Desert cotton tails, like most other rabbits are social animals, and live together in large warrens. Unlike most rabbits, however, desert cotton tails do not dig their own burrows. Instead they rely on pre-existing holes and tunnels to serve as their homes, and generally only burrow when expanding these holes to make room for kittens (no, not cats, baby rabbits are called kittens as well). Most European rabbits (which I understand American rabbits are descended from) can not tolerate heat very well, and will die if overheated. Desert cottontails have adapted to live through the harsh summers of the desert, however. One obvious adaptation is that their ears are much longer, which allows them to radiate heat and cool their blood much more efficiently. These particular rabbits make their homes in the cracks and crevasses of large stones in a water drainage ditch which runs the length of the park. I honestly have no idea what these poor things do when it rains, but luckily they don't have to put up with rain very much around here, and rarely ever enough of it to really flood the ditch. As you may be able to see in some of these photos, these rabbits have a bright white tail which really stands out against their brown/beige bodys. Acctualy only the underside of their tails are white, but they lift their tails up to display the bright white underside when they feel that they are in danger; this serves as a warning sign to other rabbits in the area. The reason that they're showing the white underside of their tails in most of these pictures is because it's very difficult to sneak up on these little guys while walking on gravel. Like all other rabbits these desert cottontails are crepuscular, meaning that they are not active exclusively during the day or the night, but instead are mostly active in the hours just before and after sun rise and sun set. This schedule helps them avoid predators, as daytime predators will find these conditions too dark to hunt, and nighttime predators find it too bright. I don't imagine that these rabbits have very much trouble with predators, however. They live very close to humans, and that keeps most birds of prey, coyotes and the like away. However they aren't that far from a large state park, and I know I've heard Coyotes quite close to my house a number of times, so I suppose that they aren't entirely insulated. Also there's the odd house cat, stray loose dog, or malicious child with a BB-gun to contend with. Having observed them for a number of weeks, it seems that their diet consists mostly of a sparse yellow desert grass that grows in the gravel. This is also evident in the height of this grass in certain areas of the park. The grass close to the main concrete walkway that runs through the park is a few inches high, but must grass farther from the foot path, especially that on the bank of the drainage ditch opposite the path, is extremely short, as it has been nibbled down quite well by the rabbits. They also seem to chew the lower branches of some bushes. I believe that most herbivores leave jagged edges on the stem of plants that they are browsing on, however you can tell that a desert cottontail has been nibbling on a bush because the stems will be cut at very smooth 45 degree angles, bitten right through. This seems consistent with what I've heard about rabbit's natural chewing instincts, which usually compel them to bite right through any branch (or chord) in their path. I assume that the rabbits which live near the little fountain area at each end of the park get a special treat, in that they are able to nibble the green grass which is planted and maintained there, though that area is very open, and close to a busy road, which, I assume, is why the rabbits aren't concentrated at either end of the park, near the fountains, but instead seem fairly well evenly distributed throughout the length of the park with an obvious preference for the bank which does not contain the walk way. One thing which I haven't yet figured out is where their droppings are. I've paid close attention to this, and walking over either bank of the ditch where they live, I can't really find any rabbit droppings. Sure this is great for me because I don't really have to watch where I'm walking when I'm trying to creep up to them to take pictures, but it's still a bit of a mystery to me. I haven't found any under the bushes that they usually dart for when spooked, and I can't imagine that they leave droppings in their burrows. It seems more likely to me that they find somewhere else in the ditch to perform this necessary activity, likely away from their burrows, but in a spot with enough cover that they wouldn't be right out in the open.
rabbit droppings in general are pretty dry; given the gravel that is present in most of these shots, it could be that you just can't see the droppings because they look like little round stones. I don't know of any rabbits that cover thier droppings, so I would doubt that as the cause for your not seeing any. At least for Eastern cottentails, they have two main defication methods. 1)dry round pellets that look like little stones. These are often so dry that they can easyly be picked up with bare hands w/o getting messy. These are commonly dropped any and everywhere; they have very little oder. 2)soft droppings. the rabbits will sometimes poop out half-digested grass under a bush or in tall grass (somewhere fairly safe from preditors). they will then return at a later time to re-eat these droppings. It's an insurance policy against sort-term food shortages; they eat alot when available, and store the extra in little poop-dinners which they can eat later when food supplies are thinner. The first kind are the easiest to find, as they will often be scattered around any and everywhere. About 2-3 mm in diameter, they can often be found in groupings of 10-15, though they can be found by themselves as well. go to where a rabbit was eating, and search the surface for very small spheriods - if they are fresh then they will be brown/green, if they are older, they will light brown/green, almost ashy, and very similar to the color of the gravel. This is all for Eastern cottentails, though this page suggests that the behavior is similar for both species: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/nature/wild/mammals/cotton.htm edit: oh, and thanks for all the info on the western cottentails! I love learning new stuff Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
