| New England Cottontail[1] | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Lagomorpha |
| Family: | Leporidae |
| Genus: | Sylvilagus |
| Species: | S. transitionalis |
| Binomial name | |
| Sylvilagus transitionalis (Bangs, 1895) |
|
| New England Cottontail range | |
The New England Cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis) is a species of cottontail rabbit represented by fragmented populations in areas of New England, specifically from southern Maine to southern New York.[3] This species bears a close resemblance to the Eastern Cottontail, but this species retains its brown color during winter, making it easy prey to coyotes and owls when it cannot find adequate habitat cover.[4]
Populations have declined by 86 percent over the past 50 years.[4] Because of this decrease in this species' numbers and habitat, the New England Cottontail is currently a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act. Cottontail hunting has been restricted in some areas where the Eastern and New England Cottontail species coexist to protect the remaining New England Cottontail population.[5]
Rabbits require habitat patches of at least 12 acres to maintain a stable population. In New Hampshire, the number of suitable patches dropped from 20 to 8 in the early 2000's. The ideal habitat is 25 acres of continuous early successional habitat within a larger landscape that provides shrub wetlands and dense thickets. Federal funding has been used for habitat restoration work on state lands, including the planting of shrubs and other growth critical to the rabbit's habitat. Funding has also been made available to private landowners who are willing to create thicket-type brush habitat which doesn't have much economic value.[4]