Mountain cottontails reach the eastern edge of their range in South Dakota, and the state’s 57 records reflect that. Nearly all sit in the far west, in Pennington and Custer counties, split between the Black Hills, including Custer State Park, Black Elk Wilderness, and Black Hills National Forest, and the badlands country inside Badlands National Park.
A rabbit of rock and brush
Smaller and grayer than the eastern cottontail, with shorter ears, the mountain cottontail lives among sagebrush, juniper, and rocky slopes, dodging into brush or between boulders when threatened. Wind Cave National Park and the higher ground of the Black Hills hold its most consistent records. In the badlands it shares country with the desert cottontail, keeping to the rougher, better-covered terrain.
Year-round on home ground
Like all cottontails, this species neither hibernates nor migrates. It stays put through the Black Hills winter, feeding on bark, twigs, and dried grasses when green forage disappears. Females raise several litters from spring into late summer, which fits the record’s rises in May and July.
Status in South Dakota
NatureServe ranks the mountain cottontail S4, Apparently Secure, in South Dakota, and the species is native to the state. USGS NAS does not list it as nonindigenous here.
Full species profile
