Glacier County chief., 1940-09-27
COTTONTAIL IS
STUDY SUBJECT
RESEARCH MADE FOR BENEFIT OF
RABBIT HUNTERS IN ALL
STATES
Most Popular Small Game Animal
Faces Extinction Unless Some Care Is
Given to Conservation and Regula-
tiOn by Local Groups.

Montana hunters who like to
shoot rabbits are expected to share
in benefits of study now being
made in Michigan, Iowa and Mis-
souri, with the purpose Of study
ing the habits of the cottontail so
that it may not become extinct.
knowledge gained in the research
will be distributed to game con-
seryatiOn heads and societies in
all states as the cottontail is found
in every state.
A four-year study by the Iowa unit
showed that intensively titled land is
a poor environment for cottontails,
having only 20 to 40 rabbits section
t640 acres). The best lands for these
rabbits are lands that are partially
titled and partly waste and we'll
thicketed. These latter areas had 300
to 1000 rabbits a section.
Likes Underbrush
A nesting cottontail, Iowa inveSti-
gators found, takes no chances OF get
ting caught out in the open. The av-
erage nest in tall grass or weeds dense
enough to conceal an adult was II
feet from woody or other protective
cover. but the average nest in short
grass was only 80 feet from protective
cover.
Each Of II nests under observation
by the Iowa unit had an average of
GA young a year. In a tWo-year in
vestigation. the Missouri group found
an average of "A young in a litter, but
each female cottontail had an average
of 3.8 htters, or about 1877 young a
year.
Nesting begins around March / and
continues until early in August. The
end of the cottontail breeding season
is early in September. when the last
litters are born. 1t is said that a
young rabbit reaches minimum adult
weight in ii to months.
In recent study, the Michigan de-
partment of conservation found that
reducing the cottontail'S range for
farming and other purposes also re-
duced the rabbit population While the
rabbits have not increased, the num-
Der of hunters has tripled since 1916,
the Michigan department said. In 1887,
Michigan hunters killed 100000 cot
tontalls. and in 1888, they bagged q
100000.
Local Groups Benefit
Local groups sponsoring management
projects are directly benefited because
the cottontail is a local animal. The
known home range OF this rabbit is
reported to be IA acres for males and
IL acres for females, indicating the
species rarely migrateS.
SportSmen often reStock hunting
areas by importing rabbits from other
states. Game managers believe this is
not the best method of meeting the
problem. 1t is pointed out that careful
management of the available supply
principally by making the habitat
suitable to the rabbits requirements
and harvesting only surplus stock. will
satisfactorily maintain and increase
the local population.
Importations from other states, it is
believed, may be harmful because the
outside stock may introduce diseases
that formerly had not been prevalent
in the area.
The principal disease of cottontan
rabbits is tularemia, which decimated
as much as 80 percent Of the rabbits
in some Iowa counties last year while,
at the same time, not affecting the
animals in adjoining counties.
The cooperative wildlife research
units carrying on RABBIT studies are
financially sponsored by the Iowa State
college, the University of Missouri. the
Iowa conservation commission. the Mis-
souri, conservation commission, the
American Wildlife institute and the
Fish and Wildlife service