A Silent Disappearance

Deep in the forest, amid the trees and the brush, there lives a
quiet resident, the New England cottontail. This signature species
resides in the wooded areas of New England, but lately their population
has been dwindling. The New England cottontails range was once
spread out from southeastern New York all the way to southern Maine,
but in the past fifty years that range has shrunk by more than eighty
percent. In fact, wildlife biologist and University of Rhode Island
Graduate, Amy Gottfried, says that the species is believed to be
completely extirpated in Vermont. This once plentiful species was
declared a protected animal under the Endangered Species Act in 2006
("Restoring a Rare Rabbit").
New England cottontails are prey animals that prefer the safety
and concealment of brush and young trees. This kind of landscape
allows the animal to scurry about and forage for food while being
hidden from predators. New England cottontails have the visual
appearance of a typical wild rabbit; brown coloring, great ears, and
large dark eyes used to watch for predators. Like most rabbits, this
species is an active feeder at dusk and in the early morning, feeding
on vegetation such as wild strawberry and clover. These peaceful
creatures of the forest have an average lifespan of fifteen months, as
most die from being hunted by predators. Predators to the New
England cottontail include coyotes, foxes, hawks, domestic dogs and

cats, and owls. Although this species is widely hunted by these

predatory species, this is a natural part of the New England cottontails
life and a biological
process of life in the
wild.

So, why is the New England cottontail facing extinction? Largely,

the blame is given to habitat loss. This species prefers to live in what is
called a young forest and what this is, is land that has many shrubs
and small, growing trees. Think of farmland that is growing over. In the
twentieth century there were
plenty of young forest areas
around New England, but now
land like that is being
sectioned off and built on.
Traditionally, the land would
go through natural processes
like forest fires and beaver
dam flooding that would give
way to new plant growth.
However, because humans
prevent these activities from happening and less and less new forests
are sprouting up ("Restoring a Rare Rabbit"). This leaves the New
England cottontails with thicker forests that are often too dense, or no
forest at all for the species to live comfortably, thus leaving the species
an evicted resident.
The New England cottontail also faces competition from similar
species like the Eastern cottontail. The Eastern cottontail is actually an
invasive species that bares an almost identical resemblance to its New

England counterpart and is competing with the species for its habitat.
With vanishing ranges and more rabbits to compete with, it is easy to
see why this native species is suffering. Gottfried stated, In Rhode
Island, we have only identified three sites where New England
cottontails are present. While we cant estimate actual population
sizes, it is thought that there are very few individuals at each site.
Although the disappearance of the New England Cottontail is an
imperative topic, many locals are not familiar with the species
struggles. Local Rhode Islander Candice Hass was shocked to hear that
the pleasant cottontails that visit her garden are in trouble. When
asked about her view on the New England cottontail, Candice said, I
always look forward to seeing them eating the clover around the yard.
Id miss watching them if they all disappeared.
Jaclyn, a local farmer also had something to say about the
disappearing wild rabbits. I had no idea their numbers were suffering,
but I would be happy to help out. As you can tell I am very much an
animal lover. Standing on her property surrounded by her goats,
calves, chickens, pigs, dogs and cats, no one would be able to refute
her statement.
Similar to the woes of the New England cottontail, the BlackFooted ferret was on the brink of extinction in the late 1970s. In 1979
this species, native to central North America, was considered to be
extinct due to habitat loss. Luckily, there was a dwindling population of

wild Black-Footed ferrets still in existence. Through a number of

captive breeding programs this species has since moved away from
the brink of extinction. While the species is still not in the clear, there
are still six captive breeding programs working on building up the wild
population (Andrus, Dont Call Me Extinct).
The California condor is also a species that was dangerously
close to becoming extinct. Between 1982 and 1985 there were less
that twenty-five condors in existence, but through successful captive
breeding programs this species made a miraculous recovery. By 2013,
there were about four hundred thirty-five California condors on the
planet and more than half were residing in the wild (Andrus, Dont
Call Me Extinct).
There are a number of ways locals can get involved and help the
New England cottontails get back on their feet. One way is through
incentive programs that property owners can participate in through the
Natural Resource Conservation Service. Basically, the landowner would
create a New England Cottontail friendly habitat on their property so
that the rabbits would have more area to reside. This is a fantastic
program, but not many landowners know about it. By helping the New
England cottontail through creating these rabbit friendly habitats,
locals would also be benefiting other species native to the New
England forests. Animals like the American woodcock, blue-winged
warbler, and the black racer are a few species that call the young

forest home. A drawback from this option of becoming active is that it

requires much dedication from the landowner and many might not
have the time to convert parts of their property. Another drawback is
cost. For some landowners with built up property, it would cost a
decent amount of money to turn an occupied property into a natural
forest.
Amy Gottfried also talked about locals getting involved by
participating in surveys and collecting rabbit pellets for scientific
studies. Collecting rabbit droppings is important because scientists use
the samples to determine where the rabbits are the most populated
and whether or not the population is mostly New England cottontails or
Eastern cottontails. This is a simple, but essential way that locals get
involved. The main drawback to this is time. Volunteers must dedicate
a certain amount of time to collecting rabbit pellets because most of
the time it includes traveling to remote areas and looking to droppings.
Amy Gottfried herself conducted a study of the New England
Cottontail for the University of Rhode Island. The primary goals were
to identify where New England cottontail exist in Rhode Island. After
completing the winter pellet surveys, I returned to all of the sites
where pellets were collected (from either New England cottontail or
eastern cottontail) to characterize the habitat. Amy also used the
assistance of locals and URI students to help her in her studies.

Volunteers would go out to a particular habitat and collect rabbit

pellets to be tested.
Currently, Amy Gottfried is involved with the monitoring of
captive New England Cottontails who were released into the wild on
Patience Island in 2013. Twenty-five New England Cottontails were
raised at Roger Williams Park
Zoo with the intent to release
them into the wild. Scientists are
hoping this population thrives in
the brushy area of Patience
Island because it would mean a
major breakthrough in saving
this diminishing species. I think there is hope. There has been a very
large effort range wide by a great number of scientists and state
agencies all working towards saving the species (Gottfried).

Work Cited
Gottfried, Amy. "Amy Gottfried on the New England Cottontail." E-mail
interview. 26
Oct. 2014.

Map of the New England cottontails historical and current range. Digital
image.
Working Together for the New England Cottontail. 2014 A
Wildlife Management Institute Project, n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.
"Restoring a Rare Rabbit." Working Together for the New England
Cottontail. Wildlife Management Institute, 2014. Web. 19 Oct.
2014.