Cottontail Rabbits in Relation to Trees and Farm Crops

Note.—This bulletin discusses the distribution and habits of cottontail rabbits and methods of controlling their ravages on trees and cultivated crops by means of trapping, poisoning, and supplying safeguards. For general distribution.
Among the serious pests in orchards and tree plantations are the several native species of rabbits. These animals do considerable damage to garden truck and other farm crops also, especially on lands recently opened to cultivation. North American rabbits belong to two general classes easily distinguished by their size and habits.
Rabbits of both genera, however, feed exclusively on vegetation, and are at times harmful to crops and especially to trees. Because of their size and great abundance in parts of their range, jack rabbits are by far the most destructive, but, except in a few places where they have been introduced, none are found east of the Mississippi. Epizootics (diseases which attack many animals at the same time) are an effectual natural check, and after such attack occurs, jack rabbits are usually so reduced in numbers that they are not troublesome again for several years.
Traps and other devices that are effective with cottontail rabbits do not always succeed with jack rabbits. The recommendations contained in this bulletin will, therefore, apply only to cottontail rabbits, but they may suggest methods that, with modifications, may be used against the larger forms.
Cottontail rabbits (fig. 1) are so well known that little need be said of their habits. They breed several times each year during the warmer months, the litters averaging five or six young. The nest is usually placed in a hollow or depression of the ground, often in open fields or meadows. It is composed of dead grass and warmly lined with fur which the female pulls from her own body. The male rabbit takes no part in caring for the young, and the female weans them as soon as they are able to leave the nest. These animals breed so rapidly that in spite of many natural enemies, and of the fact that they are hunted for human food, they often become numerous enough to inflict serious losses on farmers and fruit growers in many parts of the United States (fig. 2).