Cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus) are common game animals in New York. Cottontails begin to breed in late winter and early spring. Litter sizes average three to five young and cottontails can typically pr
oduce four to five litters each year. In large numbers many problems caused by rabbits get much worse. Primarily brown in color with have stub tails with white undersides that show when they retreat, giving them their characteristic name. Slightly larger than squirrels adults weigh 2-3 lbs
Rabbits prefer brushy cover interspersed with open areas of grasses and herbaceous broad-leaved plants, or forbs. Fence rows, woody stream banks and woodland borders provide excellent protective cover.
Pest Rabbit Damage
Damage to plants & Landscaping
Rabbits damage gardens, they will devour a wide variety of flowers. Most commonly damaged is the tulip; especially the first shoots that appear in early spring. Cottontail rabbits seem to prefer plants of the rose family. The proverbial carrot is not the only vegetable that cottontails eat. They will eat peas, beans, or beets pruned to ground level.
the damage rabbits do to woody plants by gnawing bark or clipping off branches, stems, and buds. Apple trees, black and red raspberries, and blackberries are the most frequently damaged food-producing woody plants, although cherry, plum, and nut trees are also damaged. Among shade and ornamental trees, the hardest hit are mountain ash, basswood, red maple, sugar maple, honey locust, ironwood, red and white oak, and willow. Sumac, rose, Japanese barberry, dogwood, and some woody members of the pea family are among the shrubs damaged.
In winter, when the ground in Rochester N.Y. is covered with snow for long periods, rabbits often severely damage expensive home landscape plants, orchards, forest plantations, and park trees and shrubs. Some young plants are clipped off at snow height, and large trees and shrubs may be completely girdled.
Evergreens do not resprout from the base. Therefore, if evergreens are nipped of below the lowest branch, the plant will not recover and the plant must be replaced.
Disease and Infections
Tularemia is a rare infectious disease that typically attacks the skin, eyes, lymph nodes and lungs. Tularemia — also called rabbit fever is caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis. Tularemia spreads to humans through several routes, including insect (Tick) bites and direct exposure to an infected animal. Highly contagious and potentially fatal.
Like most mammals rabbits are also carriers of deer ticks making them capable of having and spreading Lyme disease.