The desert cottontail is one of the most recorded mammals in this atlas, with 32,842 California records spread across 43 counties. San Diego County alone holds 5,470 and Los Angeles 4,536, numbers that show how completely this rabbit has settled into the southern half of the state, from creosote flats to backyard hedges.
A desert rabbit that took to the suburbs
Desert cottontails handle heat the way desert animals must, resting in shade or in burrows dug by other animals through the middle of the day and feeding at dawn and dusk on grasses, herbs, and cactus pads. What sets them apart is how little else they need. Brush piles, irrigated lawns, park edges, and vacant lots all qualify, which is why records run from Joshua Tree National Park and Pinnacles National Park straight into the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, and the wetland margins at Ballona and Tijuana Slough.
Spring greens, spring litters
Cottontails breed from late winter into summer, and a female can raise several litters a year, each born blind in a shallow, fur-lined nest. California’s counts crest in April and stay high through June, when young rabbits are leaving nests and fresh growth keeps them feeding in the open at first and last light. The decline toward December is gentle; this is a year-round animal in a mostly mild state.
Status in California
NatureServe has not assigned the desert cottontail a California rank (SNR), and the species is G5, secure, rangewide. It is native to the state, unlisted as nonindigenous by USGS NAS, and not specifically listed under California’s conservation framework.
Full species profile
