- Cottontail Rabbit
- Will find shelter in empty burrows, woody brush, or in more development areas, under porches or sheds
- Crepuscular animals. During midday and night, Cottontails stay hidden from predators.
- Diet: wintertime– woody plant parts (bark, buds, twigs), or anything else they can find while foraging. summer- grasses, berries, clover, garden vegetables, as well as other green plants
- Predators: Birds of prey, foxes, coyote, fishers, raccoons, etc.
- Interactions with 2 species: Coniferous tree: ate the bark off the bottom. Predator: cottontail appeared to be running based off of the tracks seen. They were far apart and had snow kicked out around the edges.
- Phenological changes: Not much has changed weather wise. There is a decent amount of snow and temperatures are still dipping down into the teens. However, there has been some warmer days here and there. When it comes to animals, I have yet to see any returning or winter dormant species.
Resource: The Virtual Nature Trail at Penn State New Kensington. (2013, October 8). Eastern Cottontail Rabbit. Retrieved from https://www.psu.edu/dept/nkbiology/naturetrail/speciespages/cottontail.htm