### animal | vertebrate | mammal | rabbit:

Cottontail
* Most cottontails breed only during the spring to fall months.
* Most cottontails consume green vegetation
  - herbaceous vegetation
* Most cottontails eat diets
  - herbivorous diets
  - shoots
  - feed on twigs
* Most cottontails have glands
  - layers
  - round tails
  - white tails
  - occupy habitats
  - occur in areas
  - prefer forest habitats
* Most cottontails reside in areas
  - wood areas
* Some cottontails become predators.
* Some cottontails eat food
  - plant food
* Some cottontails feed on grass
  - tender grass
* Some cottontails have black spots
  - coats
  - fur coats
  - life expectancy
  - senses
  - white spots
  - occupy habitat patches
* Some cottontails occupy small habitat patches
* Some cottontails prefer deciduous vegetation
  - dense vegetation
* are a common source of tularemia , or rabbit fever
  - food source for many mammalian and avian predators
  - major prey animal for hawks, snakes, coyote and many other predators
  - active year round and can be seen at dawn and dusk
  - also common in urban and suburban areas
  - born with their eyes shut
  - carriers of tularemia and relapsing fever
  - common from the coast to the mountains
* are coprophagic, meaning they eat their own feces
  - thier own waste or pellets
  - found in large numbers in Arizona and New Mexico
  - herbivores, meaning they only eat plant matter
  - named after their tail, which is shaped like a cottony ball
  - prone to many diseases, the most notable being tularemia
  - solitary creatures, active mostly between dusk and dawn
  - somewhat difficult to view, due to their swift and elusive nature
  - subject as prey by many other animals
  - susceptible to a variety of diseases and parasites, some of which can be deadly
* are true rabbits, and are native to North America
  - vulnerable in the wintertime
  - wild rabbits of North America and parts of Central and South America
* can breed at eighty days old, then mate again soon after giving birth
  - generally withstand heavy predation if suitable habitat and cover is present
  - tender vegetation
* depend on herbaceous plants for food and cover.
* does select a nest site in an old field, open woodland, or even around a garden or lawn.
  - grasses, forbs, and bark of saplings
  - many garden vegetables, especially lettuce, carrots, beans and peas
  - mostly green plants of all kinds, including poison ivy
* feed at night, subsisting on a variety of green plants, barks, buds, and grasses
* forage in areas.
* generally do the most damage in winter and early spring.
* give a high-pitched scream or distress call when injured or captured.
  - keen eyesight and hearing
  - large ears and large hind feet
  - only one external opening for both anus and urethra, called the cloaca
  - very keen sight and hearing
  - faces
  - pedal extremities
  - plasma membranes
  - sections
* like to live at the edges of open areas.
* live approximately two years in the wild.
* mainly live above ground like hares.
* move only short distances.
  - ranges
* prefer an open brushy or forest-border type of cover
  - brushy cover interspersed with open areas
  - partially open brush areas, wooded swamps, woodland edges and wooded fence rows
* typically prefer to live in areas with woody and dense vegetation.
* use burrows.
* usually nest in old fields, open woodlands or gardens, and sometimes even in open lawns.
* vary in color from gray to brown and have large ears and hind feet and fluffy tails.