A jackrabbit is not a rabbit but a hare, and hares live mostly in open country, while rabbits stay close to thick cover. Hares and rabbits have hind legs much longer than their forelegs, which lets them run in a zigzag that makes it harder for a chaser to follow. Hares tend to outrun trouble; rabbits tend to dash for cover or a burrow. A black-tailed jackrabbit, which is a hare, can spring 20 feet in one bound and reach 30 to 35 miles per hour on a zigzag course. Black-tailed jackrabbits live in dry places, get nearly all the water they need from the plants they eat, and rest in the shade of a shrub or tall grass during the hottest part of the day.
Many rabbits and hares have white fur under the tail, which they silently flash to warn others that a predator is near, and a rabbit may also thump its back feet on the ground to warn of danger. A rabbit's eyes sit high on the sides of its head, so it can spot danger from almost any direction, and it can see almost all the way around its head. It has a blind spot under its chin and in front of its nose, and it can move each of its big ears on its own to find where a sound is coming from. A cottontail that senses danger may freeze in place or dash away, and a frightened cottontail can run up to 18 miles per hour.
A rabbit has two pairs of upper front teeth, a big pair with a small peg tooth behind each, while a rodent has only one pair. Its front teeth grow about 2 to 3 millimeters every week, which is why a pet rabbit needs hay: chewing it grinds the teeth down side to side. Plants are full of cellulose and lignin, which mammals cannot digest on their own. A rabbit relies on a cecum up to ten times longer than its stomach, full of microbes that break these fibers down. Rabbits make soft cecotrophs mostly in the morning and evening, about four hours after feeding, and they eat them to get extra nutrients.
Some wild rabbits live in underground homes called warrens. Rabbits in a warren live in groups, and a typical group has six to ten adults, while a big warren can hold up to 30 rabbits and spread across two acres or more. A cottontail mother scrapes a shallow dip in the ground for her nest instead of digging a burrow, and she lines it with grass and her own fur. She stays away from her nest most of the day and visits only briefly to feed her babies, and young cottontails are on their own when they are about a month old. An eastern cottontail mother usually has two to four litters a year, and most wild eastern cottontails live only two or three years.
Every domestic rabbit, in about 80 varieties, descends from the European rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus. Because of people, European rabbits now live in the wild on every continent except Asia and Antarctica, although the last Ice Age had left them only in Iberia and nearby areas. Settlers brought the eastern cottontail to New England before 1900, and it now competes with the native New England cottontail for the same places to live. As of November 2026, the native New England cottontail's numbers have been steadily declining because it competes with the eastern cottontail, which uses many of the same resources and habitats.
A hutch alone is not enough for a pet rabbit. It needs room to move, play, exercise and hide: at least 3 by 2 by 1 meters, about 10 by 6.5 by 3 feet. Pet rabbits eat mostly hay and should eat only a few pellets. They need other rabbits for company, and two pet rabbits should meet slowly, on neutral ground. They also need toys they can chew and dig in. A pet rabbit loose in a room must be kept safe from chewing electrical cords. A rabbit has a fragile backbone, so it must be held gently and kept from struggling. A pet rabbit can live for 8 to 12 years and needs a lot of time and care.
Words to know
- cecum: gut pouch
- cecotrophs: soft droppings
- predator: animal that hunts
- domestic: kept by people
