2006 Rescue and Release

"Peter"

Peter is a baby Eastern Cottontail Rabbit. He was orphaned in the late summer and released in the fall.

Eastern Cottontail Rabbits are a favorite food of our native predators, humans, domestic dogs & cats. They have little ability to defend themselves other than using their hind legs and claws. They rely on their speed and agility to survive.

Escape methods of the Cottontail include freezing, slinking, or running up to 18 mph with a rapid zig-zaging series of bounds to break the scent trail. It is during these zig-sags that Cottontails flash their distinctive "cotton" tails. They can also leap distances of 15'.

These rabbits have long ears, large eyes, and a short fluffy tail, usually weigh from 2 to 4 lbs and are 12" to 20"s long. The Eastern Cottontail is solitary, very territorial, mostly nocturnal, and is active all winter. During daylight hours, they crouch under a log, or in a thicket where they nap and groom themselves. They eat a variety of different plants including grasses, clover, fruits and vegetables in the summer and the woody parts of plants from brambles, birch, oak, dogwood and maple trees in the winter. This rabbit undergoes two molts per year; a short brown summer coat, and a longer grayer pelt for winter. A mating pair performs an interesting ritual after dark: the Buck chases the Doe until she eventually turns and faces him when she then spars at him with her forepaws, until one of the pair leaps about 2 feet in the air. Cottontails are short-lived; most do not survive beyond their 3rd year.