The Brush Rabbit (Sylvilagus bachmani), or western brush rabbit, or Californian brush rabbit, is a species of cottontail rabbit found in western coastal regions of North America, from the Columbia River in Oregon to the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula. Its range extends as far east as the eastern sides of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges.

The brush rabbit is a small rabbit with short legs and a short tail. It is dark gray on the sides and back, and pale gray on the belly and the underside of the tail. The whiskers are mostly black, although some have white tips. Adult rabbits measure anywhere from 303 to 369 mm (11.9 to 14.5 in) in length, and range in weight from 511 to 917 g (18.0 to 32.3 oz).

Large numbers of geographically defined subspecies have been proposed, including in Oregon, ubericolor; in California, cinerascens, mariposae, riparius, tehamae and trowbridgii; and in Baja California, cerrosensis, exiguus, howelli, peninsularis and rosaphagus. Subspecies bachmani, macrorhinus and virgulti are less geographically restricted. Of the various proposed subspecies, only the following are currently recognized; the others are synonyms: S. b. ubericolor, S. b. cinerascens, S. b. bachmani, S. b. exiguus, S. b. howelli, S. b. cerrosensis.

It has been noted that numbers of the eastern cottontail were brought west to reproduce and provide a food source for the settlers. The interbreeding of the two species has occurred where the brush rabbit has in parts of Oregon developed the white cottontail although retaining its smaller size.

Brush rabbits require dense bramble clumps or other thick, brushy habitat. These bramble clumps often have extensive networks of trails and runways. The species occasionally uses burrows made by other species, but does not dig its own. The home range is very small, less than 2,000 m2 (22,000 sq ft).

Brush rabbits most commonly live in chaparral vegetation, but are also found in oak and conifer habitats. In the San Francisco Bay Area, the brush rabbit was found to concentrate its activities at the edge of brush and exhibits much less use of grassy areas. It uses the interior brush of the wilderness, and this may be a better environment for it than the chaparral one. Studies done on the brush rabbit in Oregon also showed that it rarely left the brushy areas it inhabits. Brush may be used more in the drier seasons, while grasses are used in the wetter seasons in relation to growth of annual vegetation. Use of habitat also probably is related to the breeding season.

The brush rabbit is confined to the Pacific Coast, from the Columbia River in the north to the tip of Baja, Mexico in the south. It does not occur east of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountain ranges.

California Brush Rabbit (Sylvilagus bachmani) - common at dusk at Sue-Meg State Park

The mountain cottontail or Nuttall's Cottontail (Sylvilagus nuttallii) is a species of mammal in the family Leporidae. It is found in Canada and the United States.

The mountain cottontail is a small rabbit but its size is relatively large for the genus. Hind legs are long; the feet are densely covered with long hair. Ears are relatively short and rounded at the tips; the inner surfaces are noticeably haired. It has pale brown fur on the back, a distinct pale brown nape 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 from than that of the Snowshoe Hare, helping to distinguish the two separate species from each other. Additionally, contrasting with the Snowshoe Hare’s long hops, the mountain cottontails take short distinctive leaps.

This species is generally confined to the intermountain area of North America, especially the Western United States. It ranges from just above the Canada–US border south to Arizona and New Mexico, and from the foothills of the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains and west to the eastern slopes of the Cascade-Sierra Nevada. It has a large east to west range from the state of South Dakota to California. Additionally, three subspecies exist under the S. nuttallii and they tend to remain separate in geographical terms. Aside from geographical confinement, the mountain cottontail survives in a large range of elevations under 6000 feet and the landscape in which it resides differs in legislation.

There are images of several subspecies in the following galleries.

Granger’s Mountain Cottontail (Sylvilagus nuttallii grangeri) - Fossil Buttes National Monument

Pinetis’ Mountain Cottontail (Sylvilagus nuttallii pinetis) - Williams & Flagstaff Arizona

Mountain Cottontail (Sylvilagus nuttallii) - Eastern Colorado

The robust cottontail or Holzner's cottontail (Sylvilagus holzneri) is a species of cottontail rabbit native to high-altitude regions of the southwestern United States and western Mexico.

This species and the subspecies comprising it were long considered to be subspecies of the eastern cottontail (S. floridanus), but were promoted to species level due to morphological analysis. Genetic data have confirmed the uniqueness of S. holzneri. S. holzneri and S. floridanus are distinguished primarily by size, dental, and cranial differences.

According to genetic analysis, there are three subspecies of S. holzneri:

• S. h. hesperius: endemic to northwestern and central Arizona, from the Hualapai Mountains south to the Sierra Ancha.

• S. h. holzneri: The most widespread subspecies, ranging throughout mountains from southeastern Arizona and south-central New Mexico (aside from the Guadalupe Mountains) south through Mexico along the Sierra Madre Occidental to Sinaloa.

• S. h. robustus or Davis Mountains cottontail: historically, this subspecies was known to be endemic to four mountain ranges. In Texas, it was known in the Guadalupe Mountains, Davis Mountains and Chisos Mountains. In New Mexico it was also known from the Guadalupe Mountains. In Coahuila, Mexico, it is known from the Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range. The Chisos and Guadalupe Mountains populations are suspected to be extirpated. It is considered Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. (See the below Gallery)

All three of these were previously considered subspecies of S. floridanus. One (robustus) was already resurrected as a distinct species in 1998, and was considered as such until being reclassified as a subspecies of the newly-resurrected holzneri in 2021, with the common name "robust cottontail" carrying over to holzneri.

"Manzano Mountain cottontail"

The Manzano Mountain cottontail (S. cognatus) was a species of Sylvilagus also previously classified in S. floridanus, until it was later reclassified as a distinct species. This species was thought to be restricted to the Manzano Mountains in New Mexico, where it occurs in coniferous forests in high elevation, and was classified as Endangered by the IUCN Red List. However, a 2021 phylogenetic analysis found S. cognatus to be indistinguishable from S. h. holzneri and synonymized it with holzneri. This classification was followed by the American Society of Mammalogists.

Davis Mountains Cottontail (Sylvilagus robustus) also known as Robust Cottontail and Holzner’s Cottontail - Davis Mountains, TX

The desert cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii), also known as Audubon's cottontail, is a New World cottontail rabbit, and a member of the family Leporidae. Unlike the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), they do not form social burrow systems, but compared with some other leporids, they are extremely tolerant of other individuals in their vicinity.

Cottontails give birth to their kits in burrows vacated by other mammals. They sometimes cool off, or take refuge in scratched out shallow created depressions of their own making, using their front paws like a back hoe. They are not usually active in the middle of the day, but can be observed foraging in the early morning, and early evening. Cottontails are rarely found out of their burrows looking for food on windy days, because the wind interferes with their ability to hear approaching predators, their primary defense mechanism.

The lifespan of a cottontail that reaches adulthood averages less than two years, depending on the location. Unfortunately for the cottontail, almost every local carnivore larger or faster than the lagomorph is its predator. Some predators, like snakes for example, are familiar with the area inhabited by the cottontails, and can catch and eat the young at will; the mother is unable to defend the litter. Although cottontails are highly active sexually, and mated pairs have multiple litters throughout the year, few young survive to adulthood. Those that survive grow quickly and are full grown at three months.

The desert cottontail is quite similar in appearance to the European rabbit, though its ears are larger and are more often carried erect. It is social among its peers, often gathering in small groups to feed. Like all cottontail rabbits, the desert cottontail has a greyish-brown, rounded tail with a broad white edge and white underside, which is visible as it runs away. It also has white fur on the belly.

The desert cottontail is found throughout the Western United States from eastern Montana to western Texas, and in Northern and Central Mexico. Its eastern range extends barely into the Great Plains. Westwards its range extends to central Nevada and southern California and Baja California, touching the Pacific Ocean.[2] It is found at heights of up to 1,830 m (6,000 ft). It is particularly associated with the dry near-desert grasslands of the American southwest, though it is also found in less arid habitats such as pinyon-juniper forest. It is also frequently found in the riparian zones in arid regions. Desert Cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii audubonii) - Nevada Boulder City, Pinnacles NM, various California locations

Desert Cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii minor) - Truth or Consequences New Mexico

The eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) is a New World cottontail rabbit, a member of the family Leporidae. It is the most common rabbit species in North America.

The eastern cottontail can be found in meadows and shrubby areas in the eastern and south-central United States, southern Canada, eastern Mexico, Central America and northernmost South America. It is also found on the Caribbean island of Margarita. It is abundant in Midwest North America. Its range expanded north as forests were cleared by settlers. Originally, it was not found in New England, but it has been introduced and now competes for habitat there with the native New England cottontail. It has also been introduced into parts of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. In the mid-1960s, the eastern cottontail was introduced to northern Italy, where it displayed a rapid territorial expansion and increase in population density.

The population in the mountains of the southwestern United States and western Mexico is now thought to be a distinct species, the robust cottontail (S. holzneri).

Optimal eastern cottontail habitat includes open grassy areas, clearings, and old fields supporting abundant green grasses and herbs, with shrubs in the area or edges for cover. The essential components of eastern cottontail habitat are an abundance of well-distributed escape cover (dense shrubs) interspersed with more open foraging areas such as grasslands and pastures. Habitat parameters important for eastern cottontails in ponderosa pine, mixed species, and pinyon (Pinus spp.)-juniper (Juniperus spp.) woodlands include woody debris, herbaceous and shrubby understories, and patchiness. Typically eastern cottontails occupy habitats in and around farms including fields, pastures, open woods, thickets associated with fencerows, wooded thickets, forest edges, and suburban areas with adequate food and cover. They are also found in swamps and marshes and usually avoid dense woods.

The eastern cottontail home range is roughly circular in uniform habitats. Eastern cottontails typically inhabit one home range throughout their lifetime, but home range shifts in response to vegetation changes and weather are common. In New England, eastern cottontail home ranges average 1.4 acres (0.57 hectares) for adult males and 1.2 acres (0.49 hectares) for adult females but vary in size from 0.5 to 40 acres (0.20 to 16.19 hectares), depending on season, habitat quality, and individual. The largest ranges are occupied by adult males during the breeding season. In southwestern Wisconsin adult male home ranges averaged 6.9 acres (2.8 hectares) in spring, increased to 10 acres (4.0 hectares) in early summer, and decreased to 3.7 acres (1.5 hectares) by late summer. Daily activity is usually restricted to 10% to 20% of the overall home range.

In southeastern Wisconsin, home ranges of males overlapped by up to 50%, but female home ranges did not overlap by more than 25% and actual defense of range by females occurred only in the immediate area of the nest. Males fight each other to establish dominance hierarchy and mating priority.

Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) - Chicago Suburbs

The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) or coney is a species of rabbit native to the Iberian Peninsula (including Spain, Portugal, and southwestern France), western France, and the northern Atlas Mountains in northwest Africa. It has been widely introduced elsewhere, often with devastating effects on local biodiversity. Its decline in its native range due to myxomatosis, rabbit calicivirus, overhunting and habitat loss has caused the decline of the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) and Spanish imperial eagle (Aquila adalberti). It is known as an invasive species because it has been introduced to countries on all continents with the exception of Antarctica, and has caused many problems within the environment and ecosystems; in particular, European rabbits in Australia have had a devastating impact, due in part to the lack of natural predators there.

The European rabbit is well known for digging networks of burrows, called warrens, where it spends most of its time when not feeding. Unlike the related hares (Lepus spp.), rabbits are altricial, the young being born blind and furless, in a fur-lined nest in the warren, and they are totally dependent upon their mothers. Much of the modern research into wild rabbit behaviour was carried out in the 1960s by two research centres. One was the naturalist Ronald Lockley, who maintained a number of large enclosures for wild rabbit colonies, with observation facilities, in Orielton, Pembrokeshire. Apart from publishing a number of scientific papers, he popularised his findings in a book The Private Life of the Rabbit, which is credited by Richard Adams as having played a key role in his gaining "a knowledge of rabbits and their ways" that informed his novel Watership Down. The other group was the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia, where numerous studies of the social behavior of wild rabbits were performed. Since the onset of myxomatosis, and the decline of the significance of the rabbit as an agricultural pest, few large-scale studies have been performed and many aspects of rabbit behaviour are still poorly understood.

European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) - common in Andujar Spain