It's lined with dried grasses and fur, which the female plucks from her chest and belly. Young are born blind, naked and helpless, but they develop rapidly and are weaned, fully furred and on their own when 16 days old. The male takes no part in raising the young. Predators, spring floods, heavy rains and farming operations are major causes of nest mortality. Few cottontails live to be more than a year old in the wild, although their potential life span is three to four years.
Rabbits are a major food source for many other types of wildlife.
The rabbit population today is not as large as it was in the past. The primary reason for this decline is loss of good habitat. Today's modern equipment lets farmers clean up and cultivate fencerows, swamps and brushy slopes that once held many rabbits. Expanding cities and towns, new roads and dams also reduce habitat or impact its quality. Around the turn of the century, many forest areas were logged off.