DC’s cottontail reports spread across Rock Creek Park’s brushy edges, the National Mall’s open lawns, and the hedges and gardens of residential blocks citywide, the kind of scrappy edge habitat this rabbit prefers over unbroken woods.
Eastern cottontails survive constant predation less by hiding well than by breeding fast; a female can conceive again within hours of giving birth and produce several litters across a single season. They browse grasses, clover, twigs, and bark, shifting from soft greens in summer to woodier stems once frost kills back the lawns.
Records run heaviest from spring through midsummer, tracking when rabbits are most active and easiest to spot on lawns and verges before cover thickens. With reports scattered across dozens of DC locations rather than piled at one site, the numbers describe where people walk and look more than a precise map of every rabbit’s range.
Full species profile
