Nuttall's Cottontail

Spent the whole day, from about 6:45 a.m.. (yes, A.M.!) till early evening, on a Christmas Bird Count east of the city, in the Drumheller area. I hadn't been out this way for maybe 12 years, so I REALLY appreciated the chance to be driven out there today! Not a bad day weather-wise, though it was very cold. Dropped down to -21C, but had soared to a balmy -4C when we got back to Calgary.

We were lucky to see two groups of these rabbits today, two in one group and three in the other. I don't remember ever seeing a Nuttall's Cottontail before, so that was exciting. This photo shows the rufous nape and black eyes.

"The Nuttall's Cottontail, also known as the Mountain Cottontail, occurs in the Red Deer River valley at Drumheller and the Bow River at Carseland. It is most common along the Milk River. The species was first recorded in Alberta in 1917 and may still be expanding its range northward, perhaps due to global warming.

It is mainly an inhabitant of coulees and river bottomlands, rocky valley sides, scrubby bush lands or arid sagebrush areas. It finds shelter in banks, badger or ground squirrel burrows, among rocks or under human-created brush or lumber piles or abandoned machinery. It prefers edges where it can feed in the open, and if necessary, quickly dash into protective brushy cover. It often spends the day resting in a sheltered ‘form', usually in dense, shrubby vegetation.

Unlike hares which change colour with the seasons, the Nuttall's Cottontail retains a greyish pelage all year. Its sides are paler than the back. The nape of the neck is rufous, as are the back of its thighs. The short, powder-puff tail is grey on top, white below, as is its underside. The endearing eyes are coal black. The rounded ears are usually shorter than those of the somewhat similar-sized Snowshoe Hare, whose range it seldom overlaps." From www.weaselhead.org.