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Living With
Cottontail Rabbits in Dupage County
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 Lawns and gardens in suburban neighborhoods provide an excellent habitat for cottontails. Cottontails vary in color from gray to brown and have large ears and hind feet and a short, fluffy white tail. Female cottontails can have up to 8 litters during warm weather months. Gestation is approximately 28 days and during peak breeding season females will be both pregnant and nursing. The average litter size is 4 to 5 young. Don’t expect to catch a glimpse of the mother rabbit since she visits her young only once or twice each night to feed. The young are on their own at 21 days of age and will be approximately 4” to 5” in length, fully furred, eyes open and ears upright.
Cottontails are an extremely important part of nature’s food web. The majority of rabbits born each year do not survive their first season. They are consumed by predators who need this natural food for their survival and that of their young. Injuries caused by natural events or predators are nature’s way of providing food and humans should not interfere with that system.
Here are some humane solutions to unwanted cottontail situations.
Preventing Problems With Cottontails
- Use welded wire to exclude cottontails from underneath decks, elevated sheds, openings under concrete slabs and porches. Secure outside access to crawl spaces.
- See the “Cottontails in Your Yard” section for additional preventative techniques.
Cottontails Nesting in Your Yard
Cottontail nests are small depressions in the ground that are lined and covered with grass and the mother’s fur. The female will dig a new nest for each litter. Willowbrook strongly recommends leaving the nest alone and allowing the mother to raise her young. Remember the young are on their own at 21 days of age. Do not relocate the nest, the mother visually knows where the nest is located and she will not be able to find the nest if it is moved.
If the nest is in an area where a pet dog commonly stays, such as a backyard or dog run, place a laundry basket, secured with a heavy object (a large rock), over the nest during the daytime. Remove the laundry basket at dusk so the mother can return to feed at night. Replace the laundry basket over the nest again in the morning. Repeat this until the young are on their own. Remember the mother rabbit only feeds her young once or twice within a 24-hour period, usually at night.
Reuniting young with their mother:
- If you have mistakenly removed the young from the nest because you thought they were abandoned, they can be reunited with their mother, if they have not been separated for more than 36 hours. Place the young back into the nest and cover them with the grass and fur lining. Leave the nest area alone, frequent activity around the nest can force the mother to abandon her nest. It is always in the best interest of the young to be raised by their own mother. If the young have been out of the nest for more than 36 hours, please contact Willowbrook Wildlife Center at (630) 942-6200 between 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM daily.
Cottontails in Your Yard
Gardens:
- Exclusion is always the best technique. Build a 2’ high chicken wire fence around the garden. It is important to secure the bottom of the fence by either burying 6” to 8” underground or staking the bottom securely to the ground to prevent rabbits from pushing their way underneath. Try deterring cottontails from your garden by planting the following around the perimeter of your garden: Onions/flowering onions, garlic, Fritillaria, or Tropaeolum (nasturtium). These plants have either an unpleasant taste or smell. Taste deterrents may work and need to be reapplied after a heavy dew or rain. Recommended taste deterrents are; mixing 2 tablespoons of hot sauce with 1 gallon of water, make a garlic puree and spray onto plants, or check with your local nursery or home center for commercial products. We can’t tell you with 100% certainty that the taste deterrent techniques work, but they are worth trying.
Pets and Cottontails
Cats are fascinating pets, but they are deadly hunters. Though cats hunt instinctively, they are not part of the natural food chain. Puncture wounds from cats cause serious infections and treatment is rarely successful. Please take responsibility for your cat. If you care about wildlife and want to abide by federal, state and local laws:
- Keep your pet indoors or on a leash, especially during the baby season.
- If confinement is impossible, allow your pet out only under your direct supervision.
Note: Most of the above also apply to dogs. A county-wide leash law prohibits free running dogs and cats.
Public Health Concerns
- Cottontail rabbits may occasionally carry tularemia bacteria, which can be transmitted to humans. As with all wildlife species, it is best to avoid contact if at all possible. Otherwise, wear light gloves when handling an injured or orphaned cottontail. Afterwards, wash your hands with soap and water.
What Not To Do
- Please remember that it is illegal to keep wild animals even for a very short time and that they have specialized nutritional, housing, and handling needs that you are unlikely to be able to provide. Inexperienced individuals who attempt to raise/treat them inevitably produce an unhealthy, tame animal that cannot survive in its natural habitat.
- Trapping and removing cottontails is illegal without the proper permits and is not always the solution to the problem. Removing the animal creates an open space for another animal. Trapped adults may be leaving young behind to die of starvation in an inaccessible area. Focus on removing the attraction, not the animal.
- Do not use poisons. They are inhumane and may be illegal. They can result in secondary poisoning of raptors, wild scavengers and neighborhood pets.
When to Contact Willowbrook Wildlife Center
- If you come across a wild animal and are concerned, leave it alone. Call Willowbrook Wildlife Center at (630) 942-6200 for advice 7 days a week between 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM. Young wild animals are not like human babies. Their parents do not constantly watch them, and they spend large amounts of time alone or with brothers and sisters.
- Please call Willowbrook Wildlife Center before bringing an animal to the center. Call (630) 942-6200.
- Willowbrook is open daily from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
- If you find an animal with visible wounds and it is after Willowbrook’s business hours, please follow the instructions below:
- Place the animal in a box or animal carrier using heavy gloves, a broom or shovel.
- Keep in a dark quiet space, away from people & pets.
- Place a heating pad on low underneath ½ of the box/carrier.
- Do not feed. Improper food or drink can harm them.
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