Things To Know About A Rabbit's Appearance, biology, life cycle, habitat, diet, behavior

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There are a number of different species of rabbit find wild growing across North America, ranging from the Eastern cottontail to the brush rabbit, the desert cottontail rabbit, to even hares, such as white-tailed and black-tailed jackrabbits. All rather cute in appearance, they’re certainly not cute as a nuisance animal, and all species are very well known for wreaking havoc on agricultural land. They think nothing of devouring entire areas of crops, and the more food they have, the quicker they will mate. You’ve heard of the saying, “Breed like rabbits” I’m sure? Well, there’s a lot of truth behind it. These animals, much like rats and mice, can multiply at a staggering rate when left to their own devices.



What do wild rabbits look like?
As you can imagine, because there are so many different species of rabbit, they can come in a multitude of shapes, sizes, colors, and markings. You will generally find that they fall in the region of around one to seven pounds in weight, which roughly amounts to about 2 to 3 kilograms. If we’re talking about length, the largest of them can get to about 55-60 cm long, or 20-22 inches, with the smallest only measuring in at 30 cm long, or about 10-12 inches.

One rabbit can look very different in the summer than it does in the winter. They use this color-chain as camouflage, changing the color and appearance of their fur to ensure they can stay blended in with the world around it. The fur usually gets lighter as winter comes.

You will find rabbits in a number of different colors, but the most prolific wild rabbits are usually a grey-brown color. They can also be white, black, and a mixture of all the colors together. It all depends on the species, as well as what kind of the year it is.

What do wild rabbits eat?
As we have already mentioned, rabbits destroy crops. Their feeding habits causes the majority of the destruction, often munching out on human crops. Large numbers of rabbits together can easily destroy huge areas, not just taking out the crops themselves, but even causing damage and, therefore, poor health to turf, trees, and plants.

It is their diet that often leads them right into your back yard, enjoying plant material, such as plants you’d have growing in your flower bed, trees, shrubs, vegetable patches, and more. Rabbits love food, the more of it the better, and they won’t stop. Your lawn offers just as much as actual growing plants and trees too, allowing the animal to eat a vast abundance of weeds, clover and grasses. If you have wildflowers growing on your land, they’ll even eat those too.

When the weather changes and the temperatures plummet, these foods can be harder to come by. That’s when the rabbit will adapt their diet a little to work with what is around them. During the winter, they will eat whatever green plants are still growing, as well as bark and buds, twigs, and conifer needles.

What is the lifecycle of a wild rabbit?
Because there are different species, the lifespan of the average rabbit is subject to change. IF you are looking at a cottontail rabbit, for example, they have the ability to live for up to eight years in captivity. Put the rabbit back out into the wild, on the other hand, and their live span is only considered to be, on average, between two and three years. There are so many factors that lead to their inability to last long ‘in the wild’, and they include hunting, predators, and disease. In certain areas, weather conditions can have a big impact. Hurricanes, for example, have done quite a lot of damage to the populations of many wild animals, nuisance and otherwise. Flooding, particularly coastal flooding, will also have an impact, often flooding out the dens and burrows of those critters choosing to live below ground level.

Predators of wild rabbits include alligators, bobcats, foxes, coyotes, weasels, and more. There are predators from the sky too - hawks, owls, and other birds. The good news is, rabbits are rather fast and nimble on the ground. They rely on their impressive speed to help get them out of a tricky spot. They don’t exactly have the best of resources for dealing with predatory attacks, although the teeth of the animal can inflict quite a bit of damage, should the rabbit really try.

Where do wild rabbits live?
Again, the habitat of a rabbit will very much depend on where in North America it calls its territory, and also what species we’re looking at. One of the most prolific rabbits is the Eastern cottontail, and that particular species usually has a home range of about five to eight acres. They don’t mind bumping into other Eastern cottontail rabbits from time to time, but they are usually considered to be quite solitary souls. They will fight each other if they spend too long in each other’s territories, however, which is usually around the edges of cultivated fields, in fields that have been abandoned, in areas of heavy brush, briar patches, heavily-treed areas, large and small forests, and even weed patches.

The marsh rabbit, on the other hand, is usually found in the marshes, just as the name would suggest. This particular species likes to hang out near freshwater, and is the species of rabbit you are more likely to find out and about in broad daylight. Although all rabbits come out during the night and day, Eastern cottontails are slightly more shyer about the daylight hours than the marsh rabbit is.

Being a keen swimmer, the marsh rabbit can find itself in places and spots that other rabbits just can’t, and this will often lead them along waterways and other bodies of water, as well as in areas of flooding, even light flooding.

The swamp rabbit is another species you are more likely to find close to the water, the largest of all cottontail rabbit species. As the name would suggest, once again, this particular species is a big fan of swamp-like areas, or just swamps.

Are wild rabbits aggressive?
Although they can fight back with some gusto when they feel the need to, rabbits would much rather rely on another skill they have — hopping off very quickly. Their speed will get them out of more scrapes than what they'd manage if they were to stay and fight.

Swamp and marsh rabbits are keen swimmers, so they will generally hop right into the water and swim away, if they have the option to do that. The Eastern cottontail, however, is better at running, often reaching impressive speeds of 15 miles per hour or more. Some have even been recorded moving at 18 mph. This species is the grumpiest of the lot and will fight each other. Just like other nuisance rabbits, the Eastern cottontail would still prefer to scamper off than fight when up against larger predatory animals.

Read about How to Get Rid of Rabbits.
For more information, you may want to click on one of these guides that I wrote:
How To Guide: Who should I hire? - What questions to ask, to look for, who NOT to hire.
How To Guide: do it yourself! - Advice on saving money by doing wildlife removal yourself.
Guide: How much does wildlife removal cost? - Analysis of wildlife control prices.