Snowshoe Hare Pellets
Snowshoe Hares digest their food twice in order to extract the most nutrients possible from their food. Two kinds of pellets are produced by hares: hard pellets (twice digested) and soft pellets called cecotropes (digested once). Food is ingested and passes through a sac-like structure between the small and large intestine called the cecum. Bacteria in the cecum synthesize proteins and vitamins and as a result of this synthesis, cecotropes have twice the protein and half of the fiber of the typical hard pellet. They also contain high levels of vitamin K and B vitamins. In order to obtain the nutrients produced in the cecum, Snowshoe Hares eat and redigest the soft cecotropes (often produced early in the morning which is why we rarely see them). These pellets which have been digested twice provide up to 20 percent of a hare’s daily protein.
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Bobcats Courting & Mating
Bobcats are active at dawn and dusk, when their primary prey, rabbits and hares, are active. However, they are very secretive and you are more likely to come across their signs than bobcats themselves, especially at this time of year. January and February are the peak of Bobcat mating season, and females are busy rubbing their cheeks and bodies on scent posts, as well as marking their territory with urine. They also partake in yowling quite frequently, all of which enable male bobcats to readily locate females.
As a male approaches a female, he is either warmly welcomed or aggressively fought off, depending on her state of receptivity. Once she’s receptive, she becomes quite vocal, arches her back and circles around the male. Play-like behavior follows, with the pair throwing themselves at and chasing each other. Eventually mating takes place, lasting only about five minutes. Bobcats compensate for the brevity of their mating with the frequency with which they engage in it (up to 16 times a day for several days). When copulation ceases, males disappear and play no part in raising their young. (Source: Behavior of North American Mammals, by Elbroch and Rinehart) (Thanks to Roger Irwin, wildlife photographer, for the use of his photo. You may visit his gallery at www.rogerirwinphotos.com)
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Eastern Cottontail vs. New England Cottontail
There are two species of cottontails in the Northeast – the New England Cottontail and the Eastern Cottontail. The New England Cottontail was the only rabbit east of the Hudson River until the Eastern Cottontail was introduced in the late 1800s. Today the New England Cottontail is restricted to less than a fifth of its range in the early 1900s, whereas the Eastern Cottontail can be found throughout New England.
Although they are two separate species, these two rabbits look very similar – the Eastern Cottontail is slightly larger, has longer ears, and its eyes are half again as large as the New England Cottontail’s. The New England Cottontail is a forest species that depends on areas of thick shrubs and young trees that grow up following natural disturbances. A combination of dwindling habitat due to development, the ephemeral nature of young forests (they only last for 10 to 20 years before becoming older woodland, where ground-level plants are too thin to provide rabbits with enough food and cover to survive) and inferior eyesight has led to the dwindling population of New England Cottontails, and fostered the growth of the Eastern Cottontail population. Eastern Cottontails seem better able to survive in the increasingly fragmented habitats of New England, including open fields, forest edges, small thickets, and even golf courses and suburban lawns. (Photo: Eastern Cottontail)
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