Handbook of Nature-Study · Lesson LIII · Topic 6: Mammal study
53. The cotton-tail rabbit
Goal: Your child can read rabbit tracks in snow or mud and describe how the cottontail's ears, eyes, legs, coat and white tail help it survive.
You'll need
- Fresh snow or soft mud for tracks (winter is best)
- A ruler and a camera or phone (optional)
- Binoculars for watching at dawn or dusk
- A pet rabbit to look at closely (optional; Comstock allows a domestic rabbit)
- Nature notebook
What's in the book
An introduction to mammal study (mammals feed their young on milk), then the leading thought, the method (begin in winter with tracks; a rabbit from a box trap in a wire cage, or a domestic rabbit) and thirteen questions on tracks, ears, smell, lip and teeth, eyes, legs and feet, protective color and "freezing", grooming, food, the nest and young, enemies and rabbit roads, tame rabbits, and stories to write.
The lesson, step by step
When and where
Comstock begins in winter, the day after a fresh snow, when rabbit tracks are everywhere. Cottontails live at the edges of yards, parks, gardens and fields and feed at dawn and dusk.
Safety: never touch, feed or corner a wild mammal, and never handle a dead one. Wild animals can bite and can carry rabies and other diseases. Watch from a distance with binoculars. In spring, if you find a nest of baby rabbits in the grass, leave it; the mother visits only a few times a day, and the babies are not abandoned.
Keep the big idea in mind
Read this to yourself:
The cotton-tail thrives amid civilization; its color protects it from sight; its long ears give it warning of the approach of danger; and its long legs enable it to run by swift, long leaps.
Comstock caught cotton-tails in box traps to study. Instead, use tracks and dawn or dusk watching; a pet rabbit can stand in for the close-up questions, as she suggests.
Read the tracks
What sort of tracks does the cotton-tail make in the snow? Describe and sketch them. Where do you find these tracks? How do you know which way the rabbit was going? Follow the track and see if you can find where the rabbit went.
Comstock's story explains: the two big prints in front are the hind feet, which land ahead of the small front feet.
Night or day?
When were these tracks made, by night or by day? What does the rabbit do during the day? What does it find to eat during the winter?
Look for nibbled twigs and bark near the tracks.
Ears and nose
Watch a rabbit at dusk from a window, or look closely at a pet rabbit.
What are the two most noticeable peculiarities of the rabbit? Of what use are such large ears?
Describe the movements of the nostrils and explain the reason.
Hiding and running
How does the cotton-tail escape being seen? Describe its coat. Of what use is the white fluff beneath the tail? Have you ever seen a wild rabbit "freeze"? What is meant by freezing and what is the use of it?
Why is it advantageous to the rabbit to have such long, strong, hind legs?
Put it into words
Ask your child to tell you how a rabbit stays safe, using the ears, eyes, legs, coat and tail. Then share the leading thought.
Nature notebook
Sketch a line of rabbit tracks as Comstock asks, with an arrow showing which way the rabbit went. Draw a rabbit "frozen" in the grass beside it.
Afterwards
After each new snow this winter, look for tracks around your home and keep a track page: rabbit, squirrel, bird, cat, dog.
Tip
Pet rabbits make the close-up questions easy (whiskers, split lip, teeth, how it washes its face), but treat a pet rabbit gently and let it sit on the floor; rabbits don't like being lifted.