June 26, 2008 - Keeping up with the cottontaile Suffolk Times • June 26, 2008 iim���AeeDin
up wi th the cottontai
Then there are the natural enemies; fox, owls and
hawks are always looking for a meal. Besides these
predators, man has made the rabbit's world much
more dangerous than it was years ago — speeding
cars take their toll and the whirling blades of the
lawn mower can spell disaster to the newborns ly-
ing motionless in the grass- covered nest the mother
has provided. The inner lining is made up of fur
from her body.
Because the nest is so shallow, the young are in
danger as the mower moves over them. They stay
in this motionless state throughout the.day and are
nursed only in the dark hours of the night.
In four or five weeks they will be weaned and in-
dependent, and by four months old they are mature
and ready to face the coming winter:
Rabbits eat just about everything that's green,
los by aul and Barbara enbur with a particular fondness for my lettuce, peas and
newly sprouted beans. When winter comes. most
It's 5:30 a.m. and the sky is bursting with color in
the east. A few minutes pass and the world arrives
with the sun's presence; a new day has begun.
I've always been an early riser; it was the trade-
mark of our home — up early and'take advantage
of the day. It's the time when the world is the fresh.
est; a world dripping with dew and splendor.
I sat down in front of our big picture window
and looked for movement in front of me. Not a lea]
moved. The exception was a pair of rabbits that
seemed to be playing "catch me if you can."
I've seen this courting game before — or is it
a courting game? Could it be that they are just
having fun? Do animals have time for suckfrolick-
ing? I think so. It's a comic show of freedom, of the
joy of life, these, two rabbits running, hopping and
jumping over each other. I watch them for 20 min-
utes until their antics take them to another stage,
away from my sight.
Focus By now our big white
rooster has started his burst of
ON crowing, telling the world he h
master of all.
NATURE The cottontail rabbit is
by Paul probably the most recognized
Stoutenburgh animal in New York State. Its.
reproduction cycle can start
as early as February, when
mating takes place. Two and three litters are not
unusual, so you can see7why we always seem to
have rabbits around.
Yet our cottontail faces a barrage of enemies,
such as our pet cat, which becomes an expert hunt-
er when left to roam. Cats are bad news for baby
rabbits; even worse are the feral cats that roam and
kill for every meal.
Above: This Interesting birdhouse was made by
someone who wanted something different. Our lo-
cal chickadee didn't care what it looked like and
so raised its family in it. Below: Here are a few of
the dainty little flowers of the invasive multiflora
rose that has taken over the countryside. From
each flower, a rose hip will develop, providing food
For wildlife of all sorts. Once digested by an animal,
the seeds will be dispersed in the droppings. ,
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of the greenery disappears and we find the rabbit
existing on the buds of plants that were waiting
for spring and on the inner bark of trees. This is
why we often see the lower section of young trees
wrapped in some sort of protective covering.
Our eastern cottontail is considered legal game
and can be hunted, flushed out of hiding either with
the help of dogs, usually beagles, or just by walking
through the woods and chasing them from thick
piles of brush and heavy brambles.
The meat of the rabbit is considered one of the
finest meats available and is found in specialty
shops. Meat of wild rabbits cannot be sold; only
commercially grown meat is sold in the market-
place. If my memory serves me right, there was a
place somewhere in Riverhead or Manorville years
ago where you could buy rabbit meat.
While we're condemning the rabbit for his
exploits in our garden, there's something else right
now that is affecting our gardens and much of the
open countryside. It's an immigrant from overseas
— the multiflora rose. Originally from Japan, Korea
and China, it has quietly and deliberately been
working to take over any open space where it can
get a foothold, and it smothers the land with its ag-
gressive .growth.
The ironic thing about the multiflora rose's ar-
rival is that at one time the New York State con-
servation department gave out free packets of this
invasive plant free of charge in the hope it would,
create wildlife habitat and provide winter food for
pheasant, quail and, of course, the cottontail rabbit.
I can remember getting packets of root stock and
planting them around our pasture, only to curse it
later when it literally tried to take over the pasture.
It's taken me years of cutting them out to just keep
ahead of this fast - growing rose. I do let them grow
and flourish around the edges of the pasture, as
they grow so thick and impenetrable my cows have
never tried going through their wall of thorns and
thick canes. This aggressive rose is often used as a
living fence.
Like most roses, the multiflora rose, with its
asters of small white flowers, produces bunches of
tle rose hips. It's been estimated that the average
ultiflora rose produces over a million seeds each
ar — no wonder we see it taking over.any unat-
nded parcel of vacant land.
Later in.the day, as we sat on our patio, we
itched a chickadee feeding her young in an inter -
ting birdhouse our neighbor gave us. What better
ft of friendship could anyone give?
Its location. is only eight feet from where we eat
eakfast and the chickadee lets us know she woulc
:e us to move awav from' her nesting site.
AT .