Frequently Asked Questions The rabbits that most people see are
Eastern cottontails – a completely different species than our
native New England type. Eastern cottontails were imported to
the region in the twentieth century; it turns out they can live
in small patches of thinner cover than what New England
cottontails need. The species has lost more than 80 percent of
its habitat over the last 50 years. Some of this loss comes from
people developing the landscape, and some of it comes from
shrubby areas growing up into forest, where cottontails can't
live. They need places like old overgrown farms, brushy fields,
coastal shrublands, thickets near beaver flowages, and stands of
trees growing back after logging. In those types of thick cover,
bunnies can find food, hide from predators, and shelter from
winter’s cold and wind. Local populations need blocks of habitat
25 acres in size (and ideally much larger) -- plus, habitat
blocks must connect to other similar patches of cover. Darned
thick! New England cotton