“People see them and think they need help, but they don’t. “At that point they have fur and look like full-fledged rabbits, only mini – about the size of a tennis ball,” Galle said. She cares for the babies for two to three weeks, Galle said, and then they are on their own. The size of a rabbit that is almost weaned (Photo contributed by Deborah Galle) The gestation period is 30 days, so the female can have a litter every couple of months. Females give birth from March to September to litters that range from two to 10 bunnies. ![]() It’s why rabbits reproduce so quickly, she said. “They are a major food source in the wild.” “Everything eats rabbits, so they are very, very skittish,” Galle said. Animals with eyes in front, like coyotes, are predators. In the wild, animals with eyes on the side of the head, like rabbits, are prey. Rabbits frighten easily because they are a prey species, Galle said. But even if she is spooked, she will keep trying.” If something spooks her, she may hang back because she doesn’t want to bring predators to the nest. “If she is alive and able to get to her babies, she will. ![]() Mother rabbits know something humans don’t – her babies make no noise and have no scent, and are less likely to attract predators if they stay in the nest, said Deborah Galle, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator and board member of the Connecticut Wildlife Rehabilitators Association. “I did that and saw that it got messed up, and then in the morning I saw the mama at the nest.” A rabbit’s nest in a shallow depression (Photo contributed by Deborah Galle) That would mean the mama was there,” Harper said. “It said to put sprigs in a crisscross pattern across the nest, and go back later to see if the pattern was disturbed. It’s not likely a mother will abandon her nest unless something happens to her, the article said. She wouldn’t, Harper learned after some online research turned up an article in Scientific American magazine. “My concern was that, because I mowed everything, it wasn’t a good nest anymore, and the mama rabbit would abandon it.” “I thought, ‘The mama rabbit had all this tall grass to give cover to her nest and now I have uncovered it,’” Harper said. “I lifted away some of the dried grass and I saw a bunch of baby bunnies,” the Stamford man said. Harper assumed that a glob of grass cuttings had fallen from the mower blades.īut when he bent to pick it up, it moved. Most females begin breeding at about three months of age, and they can have up to seven litters in a year, with each litter consisting of one to twelve babies, which are called kits.STAMFORD - The backyard grass was high when Glenn Harper mowed it, so he was not surprised, after he finished, to find a clump. In some states, they can breed during any month of the year. Cottontails can reach speeds up to 18 miles per hour.Ĭottontails breed according to weather. They are often hunted with dogs, which are trained at keeping track of the wily animals. Small game hunters are fond of these rabbits, which are plentiful, and offer challenging shots as they run in circles and zig-zag patterns looking for an escape route. The average cottontail weighs about 2.5 pounds. ![]() They prefer areas that have a mix of open land and dense shrubs, allowing them to graze and lounge while also having quick escape routes nearby.ĭuring winter, when natural cover is less abundant, cottontail rabbits will spend more time in open areas, but still prefer some type of structure nearby such as weedy edges around fence lines, woody cover or rock walls.Ĭottontails are chunky, brownish-red or grayish-brown, have large hind feet, short fluffy tails and long ears. Cottontails live in meadows and shrubby areas.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |