Help protect Endangered cottontails





Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife





*mefishwildlife.com*






Report your rabbit sightings to help protect the state Endangered New England cottontail

A New England cottontail in the snow

New England cottontail photo by Logan Parker

The New England cottontail [ [link removed] ] (NEC) is Maine’s only native true rabbit, and was once common in southern Maine. However, NEC populations have declined dramatically in Maine and across their entire range due to habitat loss. Today, NEC are known to occur in just 7 towns: Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough, Wells, York, Kittery, Eliot, and Kennebunk; with a statewide population of less than 400 individuals. MDIFW is working with partners to restore Maine’s NEC, but we need more eyes in southern and coastal Maine!

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Share Your Sightings!

If you see a rabbit that might be a New England cottontail or an Eastern cottontail (a non-native species that resembles NEC), we want to hear about it! Please take a photo to submit when possible, take note of the following, and report your sighting online [ [link removed] ]:

A New England cottontail blending into fallen leaves
* *Date*
* *Time*
* *Location/**Town*
* *Habitat Description*
* *Identifying Characteristics- *Please do not report known snowshoe hares. Did you observe any features that support identification as an NEC? Find identification tips [ [link removed] ] below. 


*Report a Rabbit Sighting* [ [link removed] ]


MDIFW will conduct surveys in the vicinity of credible NEC sightings to search for currently unknown populations. Any new confirmations of the species will greatly enhance our restoration effort by allowing us to protect the population and provide additional opportunities for us to conduct habitat management that will ultimately increase Maine’s NEC population.

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Identifying New England Cottontails

New England cottontails
*New England cottontails at a glance*

New England cottontails are medium-sized rabbits (14-17 inches long) and weigh in at just 1-2.5 pounds. They have dark brown fur with a wash of black-tipped fur, a black edge to their ears. They also have a black spot between their ears though this characteristic is typically not visible from a distance.

"Photo by Wells Reserve at Laudholm"

 



A rabbit with a brown coat compared with a hare with a white coat in winter
*Hares are white in winter, but rabbits are brown year-round!*

It can be surprisingly tricky to distinguish NEC and snowshoe hares [ [link removed] ] during most of the year but identification becomes much simpler in winter! The snowshoe hare goes through a costume change for the snowy months, turning white while NEC retain a brown coat all year. We only need reports of potential NEC so this winter remember to write it down if it's brown and just enjoy the sight if its white!

 

 



Eastern cottontail
*Non-native look-alikes*

Until recently, Maine was the only state in the northeast that did not have eastern cottontails, a non-native rabbit which is nearly indistinguishable from the NEC. Reporting all brown rabbits in winter not only helps locate new undocumented populations of NEC, it also may help identify areas of eastern cottontail expansion which pose a threat to the recovery of Maine's only native rabbit. 



*Rabbit Identification* [ [link removed] ]






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More information

New England Cottontail Restoration [ [link removed] ]

Endangered and Threatened Species in Maine [ [link removed] ]

Other Community Science Projects [ [link removed] ]

Ways to Support Wildlife Conservation in Maine [ [link removed] ]

 








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This email was sent to [email protected] using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife ·41 State House Station · Augusta, ME 04333-0041 · (207) 287-8000 GovDelivery logo [ [link removed] ]