When these preferred foods are scarce, its diet will include woody plant parts such as twigs and bark. The breeding season for cottontails often begins in February and lasts until September. With a gestation period of 28 days and the capability of a female to become pregnant the day after giving birth, litters can be produced on a monthly basis. A female cottontail may have five to seven litters of four to five young in one year. The young, which have no fur at birth, grow rapidly and are weaned off of their mother between 16 and 22 days.
Litters often become intolerant of each other and disperse at around seven weeks.
Prolific reproduction keeps the cottontail population out of danger of decline in the southern United States. Predation is the primary direct cause of mortality for the cottontail. Poor habitat conditions, disease and severe weather can all increase its chances of being taken by a predator. In the United States, deer are the only game more pursued by hunters than the rabbit or hare. To attract the cottontail to your backyard, provide brush-piles in which to hide and natural grassy areas for grazing.