Eastern Cottontail Bunny

SIZE, WEIGHT, HEIGHT
Baby cottontail rabbits weigh a mere 30 grams when they are born, but by the time they reach adulthood, they will be between 1.8 and 3.3 pounds.
For size, cottontail rabbits can reach between 13 to 16 inches long.
Their tail can grow to be up to 3 inches long. As a general rule, female rabbits are larger than male rabbits.

LIFESPAN
The average lifespan of a cottontail rabbit is two years if it can reach the age of adulthood. Due to their size and inability to defend themselves, many young rabbits are taken by prey when they are mere months old.

TEMPERAMENT/BEHAVIOR
Cottontail rabbits spend the majority of their life trying to hide from swooping predators. As a result, their behavior has adapted to provide the best possible defenses. While they normally move about by hopping, cottontail rabbits will quickly run away if they sense the slightest hint of danger. And, they won’t just run straight as they have adapted to utilize zig-zag maneuvering for the best possible defense.

COLOR/VARIETY
Cottontail rabbits will have darker fur on their back and whiter fur on their abdomens. You can see hues of light brown and reddish-brown on their backs with tufts of white or grey fur on their stomachs. As for their faces, cottontail rabbits often have white-colored fur that rims their eyes, which can appear to be quite large.

FUR/COAT
Cottontail rabbits are prey, so they need as much help with camouflaging colors as possible to avoid becoming someone else’s dinner. Camouflage colors include grey, brown, and reddish-brown. While the fur of cottontail rabbits will be shorter and sparser in the summer, come early fall, their skin will start to become bushier and longer. For winter, their fur will even transition to a grayer color to better blend in with the changing landscape. Spring, then, brings a natural molting as their fur becomes thinner to compensate for warming temperatures.

HABITS
While rabbit litters depend on their mothers for food and nurturing, by the time they are 8 weeks old, they are considered independent. They might live near each other but can often maintain their home range of a few acres in size. However, female rabbits will often live a bit closer to each other.

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