Busy, Busy!
I feel a bit like the rabbit in "Alice in Wonderland": rushing about, constantly late. I've been rather busy since Easter and, thankfully, it has nothing to do with colored eggs. My research about Easter turned up the fact that Easter is a season, not just one day. Fortunately for me and for the poor schmucks who have to lay, decorate, and distribute them, that whole egg business is just one day.
Anyway, life is busy for a cottontail in spring. With plenty of food, relatively frequent rains (and automated sprinklers here in suburbia), and relatively cool weather it is prime time for us to do what we're famous for: breeding.
Did you know that we're only pregnant for about 4 weeks before we give birth to our babies? It's true. And we only take care of our babies for about 4 weeks before they're ready to hop off on their own. It's a good thing they're ready that fast because I can get pregnant again immediately after giving birth. Some of the rabbits around here, where food is plentiful, can have 7 litters of babies each year. Since each litter can have between 3 and 5 babies, that's as many as 35 cute, little bunnies every year from just one mature female.
Oh, a female is mature at the age of 2 to 3 months, so a female born in April can start having babies herself in July, and those babies could start having babies in October, though that is kind of late in the season.
But maybe now you have a better idea of why people talk about "reproducing like rabbits." They aren't talking about the photocopiers at Kinko's (though I've always liked that name)!
Oh, by the way, if you find some baby bunnies that you think have been abandoned, leave them alone. I only visit my babies at dawn and dusk, but never when I think people are around. Since they're born naked and blind they're kind of helpless and it's a good idea if I don't lead predators directly to them. So I tend to stay away except when it's time to feed them. That's just the way we cottontails do things and it seems to work.
Anyway, life is busy for a cottontail in spring. With plenty of food, relatively frequent rains (and automated sprinklers here in suburbia), and relatively cool weather it is prime time for us to do what we're famous for: breeding.
Did you know that we're only pregnant for about 4 weeks before we give birth to our babies? It's true. And we only take care of our babies for about 4 weeks before they're ready to hop off on their own. It's a good thing they're ready that fast because I can get pregnant again immediately after giving birth. Some of the rabbits around here, where food is plentiful, can have 7 litters of babies each year. Since each litter can have between 3 and 5 babies, that's as many as 35 cute, little bunnies every year from just one mature female.
Oh, a female is mature at the age of 2 to 3 months, so a female born in April can start having babies herself in July, and those babies could start having babies in October, though that is kind of late in the season.
But maybe now you have a better idea of why people talk about "reproducing like rabbits." They aren't talking about the photocopiers at Kinko's (though I've always liked that name)!
Oh, by the way, if you find some baby bunnies that you think have been abandoned, leave them alone. I only visit my babies at dawn and dusk, but never when I think people are around. Since they're born naked and blind they're kind of helpless and it's a good idea if I don't lead predators directly to them. So I tend to stay away except when it's time to feed them. That's just the way we cottontails do things and it seems to work.
posted by The Suburban Rabbit | 4:38 PM
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