Educational Corner: Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus)
Photo © Carol Freeman
The Eastern Cottontail is the familiar rabbit of meadows and suburban lawns in the eastern United States. Its fur is mottled gray and brown; adults are about 17 inches (about 44 centimeters) in length. Cottontails graze on grasses, leaves and flowers; they browse bark, twigs and shrubs. Known as prolific breeders, a female Cottontail in a single season may bear 35 young, called kits. As a species, they are relatively short-lived, seldom surviving more than a year or two in the wild.
Distribution:
Southeastern Canada through the eastern United States into South America.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Lagomorpha
Family: Leporidae
Facts:
• Believed to have been a once-rare southern species, the Eastern Cottontail has been expanding its range, spreading north and increasing in abundance, probably in response to clearing of the Eastern Deciduous Forests.
• When chased, they can run up to 18 mph, often in a zig-zag pattern.
