New England Cottontail Sylvilagus transitionalis By: Miranda Scientific Classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Lagomorpha Family: Leporidae Genus: Sylvilagus Species: transitionalis

People once said that there were so many cottontails in New England, that rabbit stew was a local specialty. New England cottontails are mammals.   Mammals are warm-blooded animals that belong in the Phylum Chordata, which means they have a backbone.  In scientific language, they are vertebrates. The New England cottontail belongs to the biggest Kingdom in the world, Animalia.

Mammals have two main characteristics: hair someplace on their body, and mammary glands that produce milk for their young. New England cottontails are endemic (native) in Maine, meaning they are originally from Maine. Eastern Cottontails (New England cottontails’ cousin) were introduced to New England in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.   The Eastern cottontail is still expanding and is outcompeting the endemic New England cottontail for its habitat. Recently the Eastern cottontail is the predominant species.

New England cottontails are closely related to snowshoe hares. New England cottontails are also smaller than a snowshoe hare, but you can tell them apart in the winter, because a snowshoe hare turns white in winter, and cottontails stay in their brown summer coat.

Spotting a New England cottontail in Maine isn’t as common as seeing a snowshoe hare, because there are few cottontails around these days. Humans intruding onto deserted farms, putting land development in place of the old farms, and clear-cutting forests, are three examples of human interference with New England cottontails' habitat.

Habitat:

New England cottontails are found primarily at higher elevations. But are found at lower land elevations also. They inhabit (which means they live in) dense forests with thick cover, which they prefer over open areas. They also like to live in dense shrubbery. The shrubbery helps protect the cottontails from predators, meaning organisms that capture and kill other animals for food. The shrubbery is the only thing that is standing in the way of the predator and its prey. The shrubbery is also the place where the cottontail can get its food.

Did you know that New England cottontails also live on deserted farms? They live on farms because nobody is living there anymore, and the fields have overgrown shrubbery and thickets, which the New England cottontail loves. 

Present Status:

New England Cottontails are a Species of Concern, in Maine.

Physical Description:

New England cottontails are small furry animals with big, coal black eyes, long ears and whiskers. But nobody can forget its cute, stubby, fluffly tail!

New England cottontail adults range in size from 12-19 inches. The females are bigger than the males. The cottontails’ backs have a pinkish buff coat, with overlaid black streaking that looks washed out throughout its fur. Its ears are more rounded and less pointed than a snowshoe hare’s.

Diet and Feeding Habits:

Some people might call this rabbit a “picky eater.” New England cottontails are herbivores, meaning they only eat plants, or they eat producers.  Producers are green plants that make their own food. But a New England cottontail is a consumer.  A consumer is an organism that eats other organisms for food.

Speaking of consumers, the New England cottontail is a big part of the food chain, The food chain is the way in which energy is transferred through a community.The New England cottontail is consumed by a lot of predators. If the New England cottontail went extinct, then a number of other animals would die out, too.

The New England cottontail usually eats plants such as flowers, grass, and leaves. They even eat bark, twigs, gardens, or the crops on farms. The New England cottontail is active even in winter and lives off of bark and twigs, which is all they can find because the green leaves are dead and gone. In the summer, when they are most active, the New England cottontail eats plants, grasses, and leaves. But, as any good gardner knows, rabbits also love gardens!

Causes of Endangerment:

The reason for the decline in the cottontail’s population is due to an extremely large loss of suitable habitat. Ever since the Eastern cottontail was introduced to New England, it has been competing for the same habitat as the New England cottontail. Research shows that Eastern cottontails are now the predominant species, (meaning they are winning the fight for habitat).

Another reason is that over the years, people have cut down thick forests and shrubbery where the cottontails live and have built houses there. This is known as urban sprawl. Because of this urban sprawl and land development, cottontails have less suitable
habitat, and have become much easier for their predators to capture and kill. Examples of such predators are, owls, eagles, foxes, weasels, snakes, and hawks.

The New England cottontails are only a species of concern. But if the urban sprawl continues, the New England cottontails might be in danger of becoming threatened. Other species of animals could also start to die out or be forced to adapt, because the
New England cottontail plays a big part in the food chain.

Personal Essay:

What is the value of wilderness to modern society?

If you love the outdoors then its value is obvious to you. If you don’t value the wilderness then take the time to listen to me.

If you love nature then you know that our world is being destryoed bit by bit. If we continue to destroy our wilderness we will lose something that we take for granted, the wildlife. If we continue to ignore the enviromental issues, then one day we will all die from the lack of food. The reason is because of the food chain. For example, if the New Engalnd cottontail becomes extinct, then a lot of animals will have one less food source. Then if another animal dies from the loss of the cottontail, then it will affect our whole community, because slowly all species of animals will die out and then so will we. It's exactly what John Muir said, When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world. -John Muir, naturalist, explorer, and writer (1838-1914)

All animals depend on us not to hurt the enviroment. I bet you’re thinking what’s one less rabbit or bird? I think that people are less careless these days when they are thinking about the enviroment. If everyone continues to tug at the single things in nature, our world has no chance of being beautiful. Once we used to have nothing; now everyone has almost everything they need. Nobody feels the need to help anyone but themselves. When you really think about it, our world has become one great big couch potato. Instead of going outside enjoying the wilderness and trying to help our community, we stay inside all day with our high quality products.

I know from doing all this research on the New England cottontail that it always has something to worry about, such as staying away from predators out to get them, and away from humans trying to cut its home down for another piece of paper. So remember that the next time you think that the world can survive with one less rabbit or animal. No species can afford that.

Bibliography:

1. Braile, Robert “ Rabbits’ defeat.”Boston Globe. August 30 2000: 1pg. http://www.ualberta.ca/~dhik/Lsg/globearticle00.html

2. Sylvilagus transitionalis. December 1999. http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/sylvilgus/. (April 17, 2003)

3. Maine Audubon Society.  www.maineaudubom.org/nature/naturalhistory/nhx2l.html. (April 17, 2003)

4. McClung, Robert M. “The Cottontail Rabbit.” The New Book Of Knowledge, 2001.