Marsh rabbit

Marsh rabbits live in the wettest places a rabbit can: coastal and freshwater marshes, swamp edges and the grassy banks of canals. They swim well and readily, and will take to water to escape a predator, sometimes floating with only eyes and nose above the surface.

They are unusual among rabbits in often walking on all fours rather than hopping. They feed at dusk and through the night on grasses, marsh plants and shrubs.

Marsh rabbits are an important food for predators of southern wetlands — alligators, bobcats, owls, hawks and snakes among them — and their grazing helps shape marsh vegetation.

One population, the Lower Keys marsh rabbit of Florida, is endangered, a reminder of how much these animals depend on marshes that are easily drained or built on.

Breeding — much of the year in the Deep South
Gestation — about 30 to 37 days
Litter — usually two to four young, born furred in a nest of grass and fur
Leaving the nest — at about two to three weeks old
Independence — soon after leaving the nest
Lifespan — rarely more than a few years in the wild

• Mowing canal banks and marsh edges in spring and summer can destroy nests.
• Dogs and cats kill many young rabbits near homes.
• A nest of young rabbits is best left alone; the mother visits only briefly, usually at dusk and dawn.

• A nest of young rabbits with no mother in sight is abandoned. Rabbit mothers stay away from the nest to avoid leading predators to it, returning to feed the young once or twice a day.
• Rabbits do not swim. Marsh rabbits swim readily.
• Any wild rabbit is a cottontail. Coastal Georgia has marsh rabbits too, darker and shorter-eared.

• Eastern Cottontail
• Swamp rabbit
• Appalachian cottontail