What is the desert cottontail?
Sylvilagus audubonii is also known as desert cottontail, or Audubon’s cottontail. (1)
Sylvilagus audubonii is a species of the Sylvilageus genus. (1)
What does a desert cottontail look like?
(picture here)
Where are desert cottontails located?
(range map here)
southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Montana, western Texas, Great Plains, Nevada, Mexico (1)
It is found at heights of up to 6,000 feet. (1)
What do desert cottontails do?
give birth to their kits in burrows vacated by other mammals. (1)
What do desert cottontails have?
good eyesight (2)
good hearing (2)
ability to flee quickly (2)
What do desert cottontails eat and drink?
Desert cottontails are herbivores, with 90% of their diet consisting of grass. (1)
leaves and peas of mesquite (1)
eat barks, fallen fruit, and the juicy pads of prickly pear, and twigs of shrubs (1)
It rarely needs to drink, getting its water mostly from the plants it eats or from dew. (1)
What is the lifespan of a desert cottontail?
averages less than 2 years, depending on the location (1)
What eat desert cottontails?
snake (1,2)
coyotes (2)
owls (2)
When can a desert cottontail have babies?
can breed at 3 months of age (2)
Resources
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_cottontail
2. https://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_rabbits.php
