Nature Bulletin No. 473-A   December 2, 1972
Forest Preserve District of Cook County
George W. Dunne, President
Roland F. Eisenbeis, Supt. of Conservation

****:RABBITS AND HARES

The Cottontail Rabbit, with his long hind legs, big ears and a tuft of 
cottony white fuzz underneath his bobtail, is proverbial for his timidity, 
speed and dodging tactics; for his skill at concealment by camouflage: 
and for his prolific, rapidly growing families. He is our most common 
and best known mammal. American folklore and literature are filled 
with jingles, songs, cartoons, old sayings and children's stories about 
him. B'rer Rabbit in the Uncle Remus tales, Molly Cottontail, Bugs 
Bunny, the Easter rabbit, and the Hare and the Tortoise, are famous 
animal characters.

The two names -- "rabbit" and "hare" -- have been badly confused in 
this country. The true rabbits include the cottontail, the swamp rabbit, 
and all domestic rabbits, even though some of the latter are called such 
names as Belgian "hare". Their young are born naked, blind and 
helpless. Jack rabbits and snowshoe rabbits are true hares -- not rabbits 
-- born with their eyes open, well-covered with fur, and active.

Cottontails, although they differ somewhat in appearance from region to 
region, are found from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from Southern 
Canada to South America. In Illinois they abound in each of the 102 
counties: in every field, fence row, thicket and woodland border. After 
a snow, their unmistakable tracks are seen in every town and suburb. 
We find them in Chicago.

In spite of the fact that more cottontails are shot for food and sport than 
any other game animal, man is their best friend. By killing off their 
natural enemies -- foxes, coyotes, wolves, hawks and owls: and by 
planting wide areas with their favorite foods such as clover, alfalfa, 
grains and vegetables -- man has tilted the balance of nature in the 
cottontail's favor. They are much more plentiful now than when the first 
settlers came.

Beginning in March or April, and before the end of summer, the adult 
female cottontail produces 3 or 4 litters with 4 to 7 young in each. A 
litter is always hidden in a shallow depression, lined with grass and her 
belly fur, until they are about two weeks old. By that time their eyes are 
open, they are well-furred, and are ready to leave the nest to begin 
nibbling green stuff. They reach their mature weight, 2 pounds or more, 
by the age of six months.

In early autumn, over most of the Middle West, cottontail populations 
average about one rabbit on each two or three acres of land. In some 
years and in some regions they may become ten times as numerous. 
During the hunting season, about half of the rabbits are often killed 
without any noticeable effect upon the rabbit crop in the following year. 
The total number bagged annually in the United States is estimated to 
be from 30 to 50 millions.

The only other wild native rabbit in Illinois is the Swamp Rabbit, a 
close relative of the cottontail but larger and with short sleek fur. It is a 
good swimmer and lives in the wetlands of the Mississippi and Ohio 
river valleys. The only wild native hare is the White-tailed Jack Rabbit 
occasionally found in northwestern Illinois. The big-footed Snowshoe 
Rabbit, or Varying Hare -- whose fur turns white in winter -- was last 
recorded in the Chicago region when several were shot in 1824. The 
San Juan Rabbit, the domesticated European species now gone wild, 
has been released recently in many states. All of us are alarmed because 
this is the rabbit that wreaked such havoc in Australia, New Zealand, 
and islands in our Puget Sound.

We know a man who skinned two rabbits and never touched a hare.