Home Range and Movements of the Eastern Cottontail in Kansas — John Shaqi
Home Range and Movements of the Eastern Cottontail in KansasJanes, Donald W.
Science
Home Range and Movements of the Eastern Cottontail in Kansas
Janes, Donald W.
Cottontails
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; they usually
succeeded in keeping out of my sight. Twelve times the trails of
cottontails followed in this manner passed near a form, or other
resting place; always the cottontails had paused at the resting place,
and twice the individual went into the resting place and ran out again
when I approached. Resulting trails were almost circular, covering most
(70-90 per cent) of the home range; sometimes three or four complete
circuits were made. The trails made when I pursued cottontails ranged
in length from 800 to 3,000 feet. 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.
Most of the year cottontails rest in forms of grass or brush near
woodland edges but in extremely cold or hot weather they seek the
greater protection of the woods. Movements are limited to the woodlands
in severe weather, especially when deep snow makes travel difficult.
Hilltop rock outcrops on the area provide excellent protection for the
cottontail especially from low temperatures and freezing rain or
blowing snow. Eighty per cent of the cottontails resting under the rock
outcrops were found in severe winter weather. Fifteen per cent were
found in severe summer weather, and five per cent were found at times
when the weather was not severe. Undercut creek banks and exposed tree
root-systems in eroded gullies were favorite hiding places. Brush that
had accumulated in the ravines and stream beds also was used for cover
by the cottontail.
In heavy rain a cottontail may move along, neither hopping nor running,
with its body close to the ground, head low, ears laid back. Losing its
customary alertness it may pass a person without seeing him. At times,
I have been able to approach almost close enough to seize one of the
miserable creatures. In deep snow cottontails may progress with long
bounds carrying them high enough vertically, to clear the surrounding
snow.
Courting activities were seen only in evening. Four male cottontails
and three females were observed to move an estimated 1200 feet in an
evening (1-1/4 hours) while chasing each other around in an area of
less than an acre. It is presumed that this activity was in addition to
normal movements made while foraging.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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