Native New England cottontail rabbits disappearing

Reuters ^ | September 17, 2011 | Zach Howard

[decimon]

CONWAY, Mass (Reuters) - The New England cottontail rabbit, in sharp decline for decades throughout the Northeast, is on the verge of disappearing from several states, with the reason somewhat a mystery, wildlife experts say.

The once prolific breeder, already no longer found in Vermont, has nearly vanished from Rhode Island and New Hampshire and exists in only negligible populations in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine and New York, according to biologists and U.S. officials.

The New England native apparently has been supplanted by a look-alike competitor -- the abundant eastern cottontail, of which more than 200,000 were introduced locally in the early 1900s for hunters, a Rhode Island study found this week.

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A possible cause is predators including coyotes and bobcats returning in large numbers, lured by plentiful eastern cottontail for them to feed on, said Husband in a statement.

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[FlingWingFlyer]

Wait until Barry finally gets us into a full depression. There won’t even be any pictures of rabbits anywhere.

[NakedRampage]

If the eastern cottontail looks the same, it probably tastes the same. Just saying.

[waterhill]

I’ll trade y’all cottontails for rain....

They are skinny for sure, but we got them. I don’t know what they are eating, but they are surviving....

[Yankee]

Times are hard.

Look in the stew pot.

[Mears]

bfl

[USNBandit]

I told them not to go into Mr. McGregor’s garden.

[tsowellfan]

Look in the stew pot.

Coyotes

[Red_Devil 232]

Must be due to gardeners making use of .22s! Ban gardening!

[Sacajaweau]

You mean...tastes like chicken.

Never realized that grandpas cute bunnies were food, like the chickens, like the hogs, like the bull....

[Red_Devil 232]

Very, Very sad day when there are no more bunnies!

[decimon]

If the eastern cottontail looks the same, it probably tastes the same. Just saying.

With an overabundance of bunny, goose and deer, there should be no hunger.

[Red_Devil 232]

Ooops!

Sad day when there are no more bunnies!

[Vigilanteman]

LOL! That’s one picture which will make a guy feel cold and hot at the same time.

[gusopol3]

[denydenydeny]

Coyotes

Yup.

[decimon]

I remember when they played softball once a week in Central Park off Columbus Circle. It was interesting.

[decimon]

Thanks. I would never know the difference.

[sueuprising]

The problem is that you have areas with an overpopulation of wildlife and people who refuse to allow hunting. There are bears encroaching into suburban New Jersey. Hunters could take care of that problem quickly. There is little understanding that it is cruel to overpopulate a species. I did see that wild hogs are butchered for food given to a variety of needy people.

[NonValueAdded]

♫ Here comes Peter Cottontail,
hopping down the bunny trail ... ♫