Eastern Cottontail
Sylvilagus floridanus
ID Notes 3
The Eastern Cottontail, Sylvilagus floridanus, is our only local species of wild rabbit. There are few species that the cottontail may be easily confused with other than the domestic rabbit. The eastern cottontail has speckled brown-gray fur above, reddish-brown fur around its neck and shoulders and lighter fur around its nose and on its undersides. It has big eyes and a tail that is puffy white on the underside. In the winter its fur may be more gray than brown. Wild rabbits can be distinguished from domesticated rabbits by their fur color and other features. Wild rabbits never have floppy ears, and will usually have light brown fur. They have long, narrow faces, while pet rabbits have plumper cheeks and wide, round eyes.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Pedro Peloso, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Pedro Peloso
- (c) Mary Keim, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/38514062@N03/36102336802/
- Adapted by Robin Foster from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvilagus_floridanus
