by Christy Solo – Editor
Welcome to All Things: Oregon’s rabbit and hare species Part II
Last week we learned about jackrabbits and hares, this week it’s all about the bunnies! Oregon has four rabbit species: Mountain and eastern cottontails, brush rabbits and pygmy rabbits.
We’ll start off with cottontails because Peter Cottontail has a lot of work ahead of him this weekend and we know he’ll want to read this before hippity hopping down the bunny trail.
The mountain cottontail (AKA Nuttall’s cottontail) (Sylvilagus nuttallii) is Oregon’s native cottontail. For the most part, mountain cottontails live east of the Cascades, but there are small populations near Howard’s Prairie Lake and around Klamath Lake down to the California border.
MCs (for short) are smaller than the introduced eastern cottontails and have a much narrower diet. MCs are 13 – 15 inches and weigh 1.5 to 3 lbs. Their favorite food is sagebrush – which explains why they mostly live in the east. They will munch on grasses during spring and summer.
While MCs have large hind feet compared to most cottontails, thus can sprint quickly, they prefer a habitat with lots of cover for hiding from predators. They can only run up to 18MPH (recall, jackrabbits can hit 30MPH) and they are on the menu for…basically every predator there is, including: coyotes, bobcats, lynxes, martens, crows, ravens, hawks, owls and rattlesnakes.
When it comes to evading predators, MCs go for the “sit very still and blend in” approach. They’ll run if they are out in the open (why they like cover nearby) but freeze when cover is available.
Unlike many non-Oregonian rabbit species, MCs don’t dig their own burrows. Like jackrabbits they rest and nest in above ground depressions. If the weather is foul, they will make use of another critter’s abandoned burrow.
MCs have up to three litters per year with an average of 3 to 4 baby bunnies per litter. While they can live up to 10 years, most are lucky to live for one. Such is the life of a very small animal.
Fun facts: Cottontail teeth never stop growing, they wear them down by chewing on sturdy sage. They can make a purring noise when content but usually remain silent to avoid detection. MCs have been recorded climbing juniper trees, it’s thought they get moisture from the leaves in the early morning.
On to the eastern cottontail (ECs) (Sylvilagus floridanus). For the most part, their “eastern” moniker is correct, but they were introduced into Oregon and Washington and can be found on the western side of the Cascades from Eugene north to the border.
It’s lucky for MCs that for the most part here in Oregon the Mountain/Eastern territories don’t cross because eastern will push out mountain populations when they do.
Eastern are a bit larger than MCs. ECs are 14 – 19 inches and 2 to 4 lbs. Their real advantage over MCs however, is their diet. Unlike persnickety MCs, ECs will eat…just about any type of plant. Populations have been observed eating between 70 and 145 different plant species.
Unlike MCs arid habitat, ECs favor forest edges, swamps, brushy thickets, hedgerows, and open fields with nearby shelter so they have a broader range of habitat options as well.
ECs also breed a bit more “like rabbits” than MCs. They have an average of 4 litters per year with 3-8 babies.
For now our Oregon MCs aren’t threatened by ECs. Eastern were imported in 1937 then again in 1941 and while their range has expanded, they are still only found in a relatively small area of the state.
EC Fun facts: When evading a predator, they can stand stock still for up to 15 minutes. In some rare instances EC pee turns blue when exposed to sunlight. Yup. In populations where EC dine on European Buckthorn (an invasive) the plant creates blue urine in cottontails. Nature never runs out of weird.
Next up is the brush rabbit (Sylvilagus bachmani) who is technically a cottontail, but without a very cottony tail. They almost never leave the cover of brush, so they landed the “brush rabbit” common name.
Fun fact: In areas of Oregon where brush rabbits and eastern cottontails both live, they will hybridize. The result is a small brush rabbit sized rabbit, but with a big cottony tail like the EC.
Brush rabbits are 12 to 14 inches and weigh 1 to 2 lbs. In Oregon they can be found from Eugene north along the Cascades and all along the coast. There have been a few sightings in our area.
Seeing a brush rabbit is pretty impressive, because they absolutely came by that name honestly. They really hate open spaces. They must have dense brush cover in their habitat and they’ll only wander out a few feet to eat.
They don’t build burrows, but they do build elaborate tunnels through the brush so they can move about unseen because like all our rabbits, they are the favored food of many predators. Even with their undercover life, they are crepuscular – that is most active at dawn and dusk.
They have a fairly broad diet, munching on wide variety of grasses and forbs such as clovers, foxtails, bromes and thistles. Honestly, if you could direct their browsing, they’d be awesome weed controllers! They live in grasslands, meadows and riparian areas. They do also live in suburban areas and have been known to scarf down an azalea or two.
When it comes to breeding, brush rabbits have one of the lower breeding rates and shorter seasons, especially in Oregon (they live all up and down the West Coast). They also have small litters averaging three bunnies per litter.
Fun facts: Like mountain cottontails, brush rabbits can and will climb trees, though generally brushies do so to evade predators. Oh, and they also have a way of expressing joy called ‘binky.’ They will run and jump, twisting their body, and flicking their feet. Something like a whirling leap for joy. So cute!
Last, but not leas– well, actually they are the least – in both size and population – meet the pygmy rabbit (Sylvilagus idahoensis).
How least are they? There are 1,200 recorded sightings of brush rabbits in Oregon on iNaturalst. There are six recorded sightings of pygmy rabbits in Oregon and only 70 overall.
Pygmy rabbits are an ODFW Oregon Conservation Strategy Species.
Pygmy rabbits are also adorable. They are the world’s smallest rabbit. They’re also the only North American rabbits who dig their own burrows. They need continuous expanses of sagebrush for food and protection from predators, and they are losing territory fast.
We’ve included a map of their range (above) because it’s easier to drop that in than to try to describe in words.
How small are pygmy rabbits? They range from 9 to 11 inches and weigh between 0.8 to 1.1 lbs. So teeny we need to get into decimal points.
How small is their population? Currently pygmy rabbits are listed as Endangered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, so the Oregon Zoo’s program is still needed today.
Fun fact: Thank the Oregon Zoo for saving our small population, they were the first zoo in the world to successfully breed pygmies, and their breeding program played a key role in restoring the population.
Bitty bunnies in the wild: Being so petite, pygmies don’t rely on dense brush or happening upon another critter’s abandoned burrow for protection. They dig their own burrows with those teeny paws.
That said, they do also need dense cover, which for them means lots of sagebrush. Not only for cover, but also because in winter it’s their main food source. As we’ve learned, a restricted diet makes for a riskier bunny life. They do also eat grasses and forbs (herbaceous flowering plants) in spring and summer.
Their breeding season hinges on those spring and summer grasses being available. They breed later in the year than other rabbit species, but they make up for it by having a shorter gestation period and larger litters (up to six per litter).
As you’ve no doubt figured out, many predators go after pygmy rabbits. Weasels are the main predator of pygmies, but also coyotes, foxes, badgers, bobcats, great horned owls and northern harriers.
Because of their vulnerability, pygmy rabbits rarely venture more than 60 feet from their burrows.
Final fun fact: In winter pygmy burrows are covered in snow, the rabbits use the snow for extra cover, digging snow tunnels directly to sagebrush versus hoping on top of the snow to get to supper.
