Dickison Ch15: Rabbits
Dickinson Ch15: Rabbits
General Classification and Characteristics
Rabbits are lagomorphs that resemble rodents but differ in several ways, including having large hind legs, large ears, a short fluffy tail, and two sets of upper incisors.
Like rodents, their incisors grow continuously.
Rabbits are fleet and elusive when avoiding predators. They normally are silent but capable of several vocalizations.
Rabbits are noted for reingesting soft fecal pellets (lagomorphs reingest the greenish soft pellets produced in the cecum).
They obtain adequate moisture from succulent foods and usually do not consume free water.
Rabbits are mainly active at night but will forage during daylight, especially when light is low. During the day, cottontails rest in a shallow depression in the ground called a form.
Species and Distribution in the South
Rabbits of the genus Silvilagus are widely distributed throughout the South. The eastern cottontail and swamp rabbit are the two species for which substantial information is available and are the main focus of this chapter.
Species | Key Characteristics | Distribution/Habitat |
|---|---|---|
Eastern Cottontail | Most abundant and widespread. Distinguishable by a rusty nape patch. | Regular inhabitant of a wide variety of habitats throughout the entire region, from mountains to marshes and bottoms. Usually associated with herbaceous vegetation in upland habitat. |
Appalachian Cottontail | Similar to eastern cottontail but slightly smaller and darker (due to dark guard hairs). | Found from Pennsylvania southwesterly down the Appalachian Mountains into northeastern Georgia. Typically associated with high-elevation conifer forests with ericaceous understory. |
Marsh Rabbit | Dark brown. Smaller than cottontails and swamp rabbits. | Associated with Coastal Plain swamps and marshes, found from coastal Virginia south along the Coastal Plain to about the western boundary of peninsular Florida. |
Swamp Rabbit | Larger and darker than eastern cottontails or marsh rabbits. Readily takes to water to escape predators. | Found north and west of the marsh rabbit's range. Usually occupies riparian zones, swamps, and marshes. |
True Hares (Limited) | Snowshoe rabbits are rare, found only at higher elevations along eastern mountains. Black-tailed jack rabbits occur only in East Oklahoma and northwestern Arkansas; they are longer-lived and less fecund than cottontails. |
Status and Decline
Eastern cottontails and swamp rabbits are historically primary game species in the South.
Southern rabbit populations have declined substantially in the last 25 years.
The main cause of this decline is the loss of early successional habitat (fields and very young forest stands).
Swamp rabbit populations have specifically decreased due to the diminishing of wetland habitat, such as bottomland and riparian hardwoods.
Estimated harvests show major reductions in rabbits caught between 1970 and 1995 for every state except Georgia.
Life History: Diet and Reproduction
Diet: Rabbits consume a wide variety of predominantly plant matter. During the warm season, they eat mostly herbaceous grass and forbs. In winter, they consume dry herbaceous material, bark, buds, and twigs.
Rabbits can damage agricultural crops (corn, clover, alfalfa, soybeans), orchards, or ornamental plants. They neatly clip stems/twigs at a 45° angle.
Cottontail Reproduction: Gestation is 27–32 days. They are very prolific; females are in estrus immediately after giving birth and usually mate then. A single female may produce up to six litters per breeding season. Young are independent at 3 or 4 weeks and may reproduce the same year they are born.
Nesting: Females excavate a shallow depression called a nest, usually in dense, often grassy cover on well-drained sites. They line the nest with vegetation and body fur, then place a cover over it.
Swamp Rabbit Reproduction: Productivity is less than cottontails. Gestation is longer (36–38 days), litters are smaller, and juveniles normally do not breed.
Mortality: Nest success and overall survival rates are generally low. Losses are attributed to predation, adverse weather, and farm operations (like spring burning). Annual adult mortality can be as high as 79%.
Predators and Health: Significant predators include mammals (coyotes, bobcats, foxes, dogs, etc.) and birds (various hawks, owls, and crows). Rabbits can harbor various ecto- and endoparasites, including botfly larvae. Tularemia, a bacterial disease transmitted by ticks or fleas, is transmissible to humans and requires rabbit carcasses intended for consumption to be fully cooked.
Habitat and Management
Rabbits are associated with early successional habitat, which provides abundant food and cover. This includes grass/forb and brushy vegetation, small crop fields, fallow fields, and forest regeneration stands.
Poor habitat includes dense forest stands with closed canopies or large crop monocultures.
Silvicultural activities that set back plant succession and reduce the forest overstory/midstory are positive for rabbits, as this increases light penetration and promotes the growth of low vegetation.
Cover interspersed with or very near food sources is critical. Dense thickets (blackberry, briar, honeysuckle) and artificial brush piles are important for escape cover, especially during winter when vegetation density is reduced by frost.
Land management practices like burning or haying should be delayed until after the main spring reproductive period to prevent nest destruction.
Hunting
Rabbit hunting, often involving the use of hounds like Beagles, has been a long-term tradition and historically provided extensive recreation.
When chased by hounds, rabbits usually stay within their home range and eventually run back within range of the hunters.
Rabbit hunters sometimes face conflicts with deer hunters due to the increasing population of white-tailed deer, and rabbit dogs have a tendency to trail deer. They may also get caught in traps set for furbearers.