Who’s Out There? The Cottoniest of Tails

We’re all familiar with the cottontail. The bane of gardeners and the delight of hawks.

In the east they’re fur is a little darker than the southwest, where the forest is less dense and the light more profuse.

I’d always assumed that there was the western cottontail and the eastern cottontail. It’s how the books break them out. But what I found in my Northwest US sojourn is that the NW cottontails look more like the cottontails in the east. And for good reason, their home is dense and dark like their eastern cousins.

One night on one of my many camping nights; I got up in the wee hours to pee. I always carry a flashlight otherwise I find myself walking like someone who’s just spent too many hours at a bar.

On this particular night I found another good reason to carry a flashlight.

As I walked toward a spot, I came across this round, brown clump, looking much like a rock. I didn’t remember it being there before. I was so close to my car’s front tire, I would’ve run over it had it been there when I drove in. Then I noticed this particular rock was glistening towards the top of it. It was an eye! It was a small cottontail, doing it’s best rock impersonation. I guess if you’re a rabbit, running and impersonating your surroundings is all you got.

In my southwest home, because of the pointy things like cacti, the rabbits there stop, ears full up, tall and sleek acting like their surroundings. So this new little bunny, out on it’s own for maybe one of the first times, was doing a great job looking like a rock!

I think anyone that wanted to eat him, would’ve walked on by.

As someone who has rehabbed hundreds of cottontails, they never fail to impress me with their ability to survive at the bottom of the feeding pile.

Cottontails are born with eyes closed. They require their moms milk and their loving tongue to wipe their bottom in order to survive. Less than 15% of the babies survive their first year.

Adult cottontails can see almost 360 degrees with their protruding eyes. They have 17,000 taste buds compared to our 2000–8000. And they can run up to 18 mph! Keeping them safe from all but the fastest of dogs.

For the unassuming cottontail they’re pretty cool, and without them we’d have a lot of hungry hawks and owls.