northeast-flora-and-fauna

This Red-tailed Hawk may have been hungry, and there was a Woodchuck  (AKA Groundhog) and an Eastern Cottontail in the vicinity [1]. And while Woodchucks can be somewhat tough and feisty [2], rabbits are certainly on the Red-tailed Hawk's menu. Though it's hard not to sympathize with the prey animals when predators are hunting, to our hawks eating small animals isn't a choice as much as a necessity. To them our little furry friends are just food, like a burger, fries, and a shake. June 10, 2023 at Duke Farms Photo 300986026, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) June 10, 2023 at Duke Farms Photo 300986041, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) June 10, 2023 at Duke Farms Photo 300986076, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) [1] I'm using the phrase "in the vicinity" a little loosely; I think I saw the Woodchuck and rabbit within 20 minutes of seeing the hawk. [2] I kind of wonder if Red-tails mostly sneak-attack adult Woodchuck...

This summer I went to Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. I went there specifically to find herps (turtles, frogs, snakes), birds (herons, ducks, geese), and insects (dragonflies, damselflies, bees, wasps, butterflies). But the swamp does have lots of woods and some meadows adjacent to its murkier spots, so it's not a surprise to see non-aquatic animals in the area too. First there's this Eastern Chipmunk , a fairly commonly seen rodent at the swamp. I suspect they live here because of the forested areas around the swamp without benefiting directly from it. August 10, 2022 at Great Swamp Photo 228539724, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) A little later I saw an Eastern Cottontail out doing a little careful foraging. They may appreciate the edge habitats like this one. Edge habitats are areas where (for example) a meadow meets the woods. This can be a popular spot for rabbits and some birds since there's usually different plants growing in both habitats, and...

I'm thinking that this (presumed) Eastern Cottontail is contemplating eating the grass seeds in front of it. As fairly common NJ mammals, I've seen them a lot and talked about them before ( here , here , and here ). You've probably heard about rabbits, hares, and pikas (if you even know what pikas are) will eat their own scat. This is technically true, but it's a little more complicated than that. Unless us, these animals generate 2 different kinds of scat: Cecotropes , which are fermented, soft, gel-like droppings that are re-eaten. Going through the digestive system a 2nd time greatly helps them get all the nutrients out of their food. It sounds like this is also the way a mother transfers good gut bacteria to her kits. Conventional waste, which is hard, presumably has no nutritional value, and isn't re-eaten. June 12, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 209947143, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

On this day in late July, Duke Farms was hopping with Eastern Cottontail rabbits, and here are 3 of them. One deficiency of these pictures is that you really don't get a view of their "cotton" tails. There are probably more of them around than most of us see since they're considered to be crepuscular and nocturnal , both times we have difficulties spotting and/or photographing them. These guys were seen around 9am in the morning. They're mostly herbivores, eating lots of grasses, clovers, plantains, and dandelions. They'll also feed at an accessible vegetable garden too. These are probably a little behind Gray Squirrels (very common and active during the day) and White-tailed Deer (very conspicuous) as the most commonly found wild mammals in central NJ, though Eastern Chipmunks are up there too. (I suspect that mice, shrews, and voles may have larger populations, but they're small enough that most of us don't spot them often.) July 25, 2021 at Duke F...

I need to do something fast today, so here's an Eastern Cottontail Rabbit gazing off in the distance, thinking his deep rabbit thoughts. I'm not sure what he's thinking, but wouldn't be surprised if he was thinking about eating a clover or a plantain. July 10, 2021 at Duke Farms Photo 148186297, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Rabbits are fairly common in my area, and AFAIK they are Eastern Cottontails , though 2 very close relatives potentially live in New Jersey: New England Cottontail and Appalachian Cottontail . (They're not only close relatives, but look very similar. To distinguish them authoritatively, be prepared to perform a DNA test.) Though they can live up to 9 years in captivity, it sounds like you're almost never going to meet one that old; in the wild they're usually going to live 1-3 years. There are a number of reasons for this: Lots of animals eat them. Cats, dogs, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, weasels, minks, snakes, hawks, and owls all consider rabbits to be an excellent meal. They're weakened by lots of common parasites like fleas, ticks, lice, worms, and flies. Cars take a toll on them. Our over-population of deer depletes many of their food sources. Still, their ability to breed means they replenish their numbers well enough that you're fairly likely to run across this...

Here's an Eastern Cottontail I met at Duke Farms . This is the most common rabbit species on the continent. Though you can frequently see them during the day, this rabbit is considered a crepuscular feeder. And they breed ... like rabbits! They won't typically breed in the winter, but in warmer regions a female can have 7 litters in a year with up to 12 kits in a litter. Though this potentially means 84 children per year, it sounds like 15-20 is more of the average. Even this would mean vast numbers of rabbits around; obviously being a rabbit means a pretty high mortality rate. This is probably due to predators like foxes, coyotes, hawks, and owls, though I'm sure automobiles are also a factor.