Donald W. Janes

“ The cottontail usually settles down in one area and stays there until it dies. Changes from one home range to another are unusual, but minor shifts, in response to changes in vegetation and weather, are common. In one exceptional instance (Figure 2, right) a male cottontail, occupying a home range of 11.2 acres in a woodland, suddenly shifted to a new area that barely overlapped its former home range at one edge. Two months after the change was first noticed the cottontail was living in a new home range of 6.6 acres 300 feet from its original home range. ”

“ In habitat of alternating woodland and grassland, such as that on the University of Kansas Natural History Reservation, two centers of activity often developed in the home range of a cottontail, at opposite edges of a tract of woodland. The individual concentrated its movements near one center for three to five days then moved to the other center. Pursuit by a predator, random movement, or other cause may be responsible for shift from one edge to another. ”

“ The use of a dye on the feet of the individual to be trailed eliminates much of the difficulty of determining which tracks are to be followed. One or more feet can be dyed when the investigator handles the animal in releasing it from the trap. The trail of dyed footprints is distinguishable from all other rabbit tracks in the area. Even when only patches of snow remain, the animal can be followed by checking the edges of the snow for the emerging footprints of the marked rabbit. ”

“ Another cottontail (Figure 3, top part) lived in a woodland home range of 7.9 acres in winter but in summer increased the home range to 9.5 acres by including also a part of an adjacent field. Other cottontails increased their home ranges in summer by five to 15 per cent.
On the average, male cottontails had a larger (by 13 per cent) home range than females probably because of the increased activity of males in the breeding season and the decreased activity of females when pregnant and caring for young. Nevertheless, some of the largest home ranges measured were those of females. ”

“ A trail recorded for an individual on one night was almost identical with another trail for the same individual recorded another night. The cottontail is not easily driven out of its home range. Paths or runways are used by cottontails escaping from predators in dense vegetation along fence lines, in thickets, or brush piles, or in snow that is eight or more inches deep. ”

“ Eighty-nine cottontails were identified in the field 59 times, trailed 70 times and captured in live-traps 326 times in 7,850 trap nights. Home range of the cottontail was calculated by five methods, using the same set of data, and the results were compared. A composite method was used, which permitted the use of more data than any other one method.
The maintenance of a home range is of survival value to the cottontail. Knowledge of the home range is of value to man when control or propagation of cottontail populations is desired. ”

“ When moving undisturbed through the woods cottontails usually do not pause to forage or associate with other cottontails, but keep to a straight route except in severe weather, when, as noted above, they find resting places in the woods. Ninety-two per cent of the cottontails captured in live-traps were captured within 100 feet of a woodland edge; six per cent were captured in the woods, more than 100 feet from an edge, and two per cent were captured in grassland more than 100 feet from the edge. ”

“ The population reaches its peak in August or September; home ranges varying in size from one-half acre (in young ranging in size from 150 grams to 800 grams) to 12 acres, in adults, are superimposed upon each other. In a woodland area of approximately 21 acres 33 cottontails were living together in September, 1955.
As the growing season ends and winter approaches, the amount of food available to the cottontail decreases and the cover becomes sparser (Pls. 45 and 46) ; predators, disease, and weather take their toll of the young. ”

“ The home range is used most intensively near centers of activity that are near woodland edges or in other areas of good cover. Cottontails often ranged through the woods and along edges but did not cross open areas more than 75 feet wide. Cottontails use their home range most intensively in winter when they are forced to move long distances in poor cover, searching for food. ”

“ Eight cottontails emerged from such hiding places an average of 22 minutes after the disturbance ceased.
If unable to find a hiding place a pursued cottontail will run 600 to 1200 feet while circling and returning to the area from which it ran. If not closely pursued, it will usually (in 68 per cent of the instances) not enter hiding places, but continue to run ahead of the pursuer. Of 70 released from live-traps and followed, 23 sought refuge in hiding places. The others ran slowly (4 to 7 feet between footprints in the snow) with frequent pauses to look and listen ”

“ Movements made by the cottontail while foraging appear aimless; typical behavior consists of progression with a hesitant gait of two or three hops, a stop to eat, another series of hops and another stop. ”

“ It was intended to make each individual cottontail recognizable in a trap or in the field. Occasionally when a predator had killed and eaten a cottontail the tail and feet remained and, when dyed, they provided important clues to the identity of the individual. However, the color of the feet is not ordinarily discernible in the field while the rabbit is alive. ”

“ The flat hilltops are covered by a mixture of grasses and forbs but are dominated by awnless brome (Bromus inermis) . Foxtail (Setaria glauca) , false redtop (Triodia flava) , and panic grass (Panicum clandestinum) also occur commonly. Awnless brome is dominant in the valley (Pl. 46, fig. 1; Pl 47, fig. 2) except in the eastern end where bluegrass is dominant (Pl. 45) .
Near the tops and bottoms of the slopes barbed wire fences separate the woodlands from the grasslands, which were grazed until 1948. ”

“ Live-traps were operated intermittently at 130 stations between December 8, 1954, and February 10, 1956. Sixteen cottontails were marked in the same area by Robert L. Packard in 1954. Data from 7850 trap nights were used in this study. The traps were set at fifty-foot intervals and the pattern approximated that of a grid in habitat favorable for cottontails such as at edges of woodland. In wooded areas traps were placed at fifty-foot intervals parallel to the edges. Traps were not set on areas of poor habitat where neither cottontails nor their sign were observed. ”

“ The borderline between woods and grasslands is well defined but woody plants are rapidly encroaching into the grasslands. Young Osage orange (Maclura pomifera) , American elm, and hackberry are common trees encroaching on the grasslands. The edge vegetation between woods and fields (Pls. 45 and 47) includes smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) , coralberry and wild plum (Prunus americana) . The lowland edges are characterized by blackberry (Rubus argutus) , greenbriar and elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) . Plates 45, 46 and 47 all show local habitat in situations where traps were actually operated. ”

“ The color persists in the footprints for about three hours, over a distance of 600 to 800 yards. The animal leaves only a small spot in each footprint, but when it pauses, the mark is large. Red dye makes the most conspicuous mark in the snow. ”

“ All of these animals hindered operations by stealing bait and springing traps. Corn, scratch-feed, carrots, parsnips, tomatoes, lettuce, apple, cabbage, raisins, sorghum, sugar candy, and onions were used as bait. Corn and scratch-feed attracted cottontails best in all seasons. Corn was superior to scratch-feed, which was quickly stolen by small birds and rodents. Eighty-nine cottontails (40 females, 49 males) were captured in the course of the study.
Cottontails were marked individually at the time of first capture. ”