The common rabbit or eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus), can do considerable damage to flowers, vegetables, trees and shrubs any time of the year in places ranging from suburban yards to rural fields and tree plantations. Control is often necessary to reduce damage, but complete extermination is not necessary, desirable, or even possible.

The eastern cottontail is approximately 15 to 19 inches in length and weighs two to four pounds. Males and females are basically the same size and color, appearing gray or brownish with a short tail and big ears.

Habitat

Cottontails tend to concentrate in favorable habitats such as brushy fencerows, brush or junk piles, upland thickets, field edges or landscaped backyards where food and cover are suitable. In urban areas, rabbits are numerous and mobile enough to fill any "empty" habitat created when other rabbits are removed. Natural cavities or burrows excavated by woodchucks or other animals are frequently used. Underground dens are used primarily in extreme cold or wet weather and to escape pursuit. In spring and fall, rabbits use grass or weed shelter called a "form" to create a nest-like cavity on the surface of the ground for protection. Population levels are directly linked to the quantity and quality of the habitat present. Rabbits spend their entire lives in an area of 10 acres or less.

Diet

Cottontails will devour a wide variety of green vegetation, especially in the spring when young, succulent plant material is present. Rabbit damage can be identified by gnawing on older woody growth, clean-cut clipping of young stems, distinctive round droppings, and tracks.

Biology

A cottontail's life expectancy is 12 to 15 months, however, they have an extremely high reproductive potential, with as many as four litters per year, the first usually appearing in March. Gestation period is 28 or 29 days and there may be as many as six young per litter. The young are born in a shallow nest in the ground with their eyes closed and with little fur. Young leave the nest in two to three weeks. Predation, weather, disease and encounters with cars and hunters contribute to a high annual death rate. Up to 35 percent of the young die within the first month, and 65 percent of the remaining animals die during the winter.

Control

Habitat modification and exclusion techniques provide long-term and non-lethal control. Remove dense, heavy vegetative cover, brush piles, weed patches, junk dumps and stone piles in or adjacent to the landscape. Fencing made from chicken wire, with mesh less than one inch, can be placed around herbaceous plants. The fence must be at least two feet in height with the bottom buried at least three inches. Quarter-inch wire hardware cloth made into 18 to 24 inch cylinders and buried at least three inches will protect trunks of young orchard trees or woody landscape plants.

Live animal traps, effective in winter, can be baited with corncobs, oats, dried apples or rabbit droppings. Traps are sold through garden centers, hardware stores or gardening catalogs. Place the traps in areas where rabbits have been feeding or resting close to suitable cover. If the trap fails to catch any rabbits within a week, move the trap to a different location.

No toxicants or fumigants are registered for use against rabbits. The use of moth balls or crystals is not labelled for rabbit control. Chemical repellents using the fungicide thiram may discourage rabbit browsing. Repellents should be applied before damage occurs and after a rain, heavy dew or new plant growth.

Note: The use of dried blood or fox or coyote urine has also been effective in repelling these animal pests. Follow directions carefully with the predator urine. Some formulations may need to be reapplied after a rain.

Adapted from Susan R. Metzger and Judy Weisberg, Ohio State University Extension, 2001. Image from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.