With 8,779 records across 96 Illinois counties, the eastern cottontail is one of the most familiar wild mammals in the state. Cook County holds the largest share by far, and named clusters run from Chain O’ Lakes State Park and Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area in the north to Shawnee National Forest in the south.
An edge animal of grass and brush
The cottontail lives where short, grazable grass meets dense cover, whether that edge is a fencerow, a brushy ravine, a restored prairie margin at Midewin, or the fringe of a suburban yard. It feeds on grasses, clover, and garden plants in the growing season and switches to twigs and bark in winter, never straying far from the thicket it bolts to when startled. It does not dig its own burrow, resting in a shallow depression in the grass and hiding under brush when the weather turns.
Built around a long breeding season
Illinois records climb through April and stay high into July, matching the heart of the cottontail’s breeding year. Females raise several litters between late winter and early fall, each born in a grass-lined nest scraped into open ground, and young rabbits on their first ventures make easy sightings. The animal stays active all winter, which is why the record never fully quiets.
Status in Illinois
NatureServe ranks the eastern cottontail S5, Secure, in Illinois, and the species is native to the state. USGS NAS does not list it as nonindigenous here.
Full species profile
