New photos of Mama Bunz and her yearling, Cottontail, in my backyard, from early this morning. The quality is regrettable but I took these from the driver's seat of my car, before pulling away for work.

#wildrabbits #rabbits #bunnies
#BackyardWildlife #backyardnature
#gardenwildlife #easterncottontail
#northcarolina #alttext

Three Good Things

🐇 The older, female wild Eastern Cottontail rabbit that lives in my yard had a single kit to survive from last year. Young adult males tend to wander off to establish new territory, but this surviving yearling is staying in the neighborhood, very close to Mama Bunz' current kit nest (under my nextdoor neighbors covered wood pile) so I assume this yearling is a female. This particular yearling has a big, white, fluffy tail, so I have named her "Cottontail". She is understandably skittish around humans, even me.

🐇 Mama Bunz was enjoying the sunshine this morning in my backyard, completely unfazed by my presence, when I took my dog out to potty. She didn't even look in my direction. I never bother the wild bunnies, and it tickles me that she feels that comfortable sharing my space.

🐇 This year's kit is still safe, under the woodpile. My nextdoor neighbor chased off a wandering fox, after I told them about the kit nest. So maybe there will be another yearling to watch in my yard, in 2027.

#3goodthings #threegoodthings
#wildrabbits #easterncottontail
#NatureLovers #BackyardWildlife
#backyardnature

Mama Bunz has one kit this year, safely tucked away under my next door neighbor's wood pile. I got a peek a few days ago, when Wee Bun came out into the grass, to play in the rain.

Got just this one lucky shot of Mama Bunz this afternoon, as she double-dog-dared me to attempt to park my car in my own backyard. She doesn't like the car and clearly wants me to just adapt to parking way up the gravel driveway, close to the street.

https://www.ncwildlife.gov/species/eastern-cottontail-rabbit

#alttext #wildrabbits #citywildlife
#easterncottontail #BackyardWildlife #WildlifePhotography #WildlifeMoments #northcarolina

An Eastern cottontail pauses mid-forage, rising to scan the woods before disappearing back into the leaf litter. Small moments like this are easy to miss unless you slow down and watch.

#WildlifePhotography #NaturePhotography #EasternCottontail #Rabbit #ForestLife #TexasWildlife

TIL an interesting and disgusting fact! Which means you all get to learn it too. Eastern Cottontail rabbits have to go through an extensive digestive process to actually get all the calories from their food. So they eat the food, then poop out a greenish mucus-colored blob, and then eat the blob so that their bodies can go Round 2 on the food. Anything indigestible is pooped out as hard pellets (an entirely different kind of poop). Thanks, Cambridge Day! #TheMoreYouKnow #rabbits #EasternCottontail

https://www.cambridgeday.com/2025/02/08/how-do-rabbits-survive-the-winter-only-30-do-relying-on-a-layer-of-fat-to-last-into-breeding-time/