Want to know what makes the Mountain Cottontail so interesting? They are medium sized rabbits. They are colored greyish/brown with pale reddish/brown hairs on their hind legs. Their tails is dark in color on the top and pale colored underneath. Their ears are short and rounded and they have black tips.

 

They are found in Canada and the western United States. They usually inhabit wooded or bushy areas with plenty of vegetation. From the eastern slopes of cascade-sierra Nevada ranges, east to western North Dakota and Black Hills and from Southern Canada down to Arizona and New Mexico.

 

They are the least concerned animals of extinction. They are game animals. They have rapidly declined in Western North Dakota.

 

They mainly feed on grass, but they will also eat shrubs and fruit. They feed near fresh water, in the cover of brush, or in the open near brush cover. Heavy winds and rain can reduce the likelihood that the animal will eat in the open. The animal eats more than anything else in its life.

 

The predators of them are snakes, birds of prey, owls, coyotes, bobcats and martens. Their anti-predation techniques are rapidly to a safe sheltered area and restricting activity till dusk or dawn. Rattlesnakes also hunt them.

 

They are also called Nuttall’s Cottontail. I learned that there are nicknames for some animals. They got their name “cottontail” from their fluffy cottontail.

 

 

Author: Parker S

Published: 04/2013

 

sources:

ADW

Donald Streubel