Mountain Cottontail
The mountain cottontail is a small rabbit. Hind legs are long. Ears are short and rounded at the tips. It has pale brown fur on the back. It also has a pale brown skin on the back of the head, black-tipped ears, a white grey tail, and a white underside. The brown nape on the back of the head is a smaller size of the Snowshoe Hare, helping to distinguish the two separate species from each other.
Mountain cottontails eat grasses such as wheat grasses, needle and tread, Indian rice grass, cheatgrass, brome, bluegrass, and bottlebrush squirreltail. Some times depending on the area they might eat shrubs such as Big sagebrush, rabbitbrush, and saltbrush. And in winter they eat more woody plant parts such as bark and twigs.
The nest of mountain cottontail is reported to be a hole lined with fur and dry grass. The top of the nest is covered with fur, grass, and small sticks. The average gender ratio in Oregon was 1 male to 1.05 females. Depending on location, the breeding season will vary but ranges through February to July, and possibly later in warmer temperatures. Average litter sizes average 4–6 bunnies per litter. The gestation period for this cottontail is 28–30 days.
Predators of the Mountain Cottontail include snakes, birds of prey, owls, coyotes, bobcats and martens.
Information from, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_cottontail and
http://www.theanimalfiles.com/mammals/rabbits_hares_pikas/mountain_cottontail.html
