Sylvilagus floridanus mearnsi

Common

Farmlands, old fields, pastures, hedgerows, orchards, brushy clearings, open woods, wooded thickets, edges of woodlands, suburban areas with adequate cover

Eastern cottontail, including the subspecies Mearns’ cottontail, is the smallest of Minnesota’s Leporidae, weighing 2 to 4 pounds at maturity.

Snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus), found in northern Minnesota, is slightly larger than the Mearns’ cottontail. It is uniformly dark brown in the summer and turns white in the winter.

White-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus townsendii) is much larger, weighing 5¾ to 9½ pounds at maturity.

In the spring, summer, and fall, the Mearns’ cottontail feeds on a wide variety of plant matter, including grasses (about half of it’s diet), clover, wild strawberry, cultivated and wild flowers, and many types of cultivated crops.

During the winter months they feed on twigs, bark and buds of oak, dogwood, sumac, maple and birch. They may girdle fruit trees and ornamental shrubs.

Sources: 7, 13, 15.

Sylvilagus floridanus mearnsi is found throughout the state except for the northeast corner and the western portion of the northwestern counties.

The range of Sylvilagus floridanus similis extends into Minnesota only in the western portion of the northwestern counties.

Habitat
The Mearns’ cottontail is found in a wider variety of habitats than any other cottontail (Sylvilagus) species. Any habitat that includes well-distributed, dense shrubs for escape cover interspersed with open, grassy areas is ideal for this species.

Subspecies
There are several or many subspecies of this eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus), the exact number depending on the author. Only two, Sylvilagus floridanus mearnsi and Sylvilagus floridanus similis, occur in Minnesota.