Missouri rabbitry
Learn more about our rescue work. We have knowledgeable volunteers on hand to answer any questions you may have about rabbit care, from diet to behavior to health and housing. For those interested in adoption, our Bunny Briefings are a great opportunity to meet some of our adoptable rabbits. FREE nail trims and grooming advice are also available!
In addition, we offer speed dating for those wanting to find a companion for their bunny, and we sell the BEST 3rd cutting Timothy hay available in the US. We also have a variety of Busy Bunny toys for your rabbit and a few items for the human bunny lover. Many come to our meetings to socialize and show off their own bunnies to fellow bunny lovers or get to know other people in the rabbit rescue community.
Whether to spend time with rabbits or learn about rabbit care and behavior, we welcome you to join us! My darling prince Oreo, you were my first bun and will always have that most special place in my heart. How I will miss your sweet face and your gentle soul. Main Content Skip carousel of pet photos and or videos This is an inline carousel of images and or videos of this pet.
Think you and Whisker might be a match? We have MANY more bunnies that have not yet been listed. Please fill out an application on our website www. We will call you back to schedule a visit to our adoption center, The Bunny House, in Fenton, Missouri. Whisker is my name; sniffing my game. Eploring is one of my most favorite activities, outside of eating hay and being talked to.
I will be 1 year-old on November 27th and have been getting better at folks being in my space. I like to be on the ground, and would prefer for you to talk to me so I may know you are approaching.
I can be vocal at times, but I mean no harm, I just like to talk and express my opinions on certain things. I am great at using my litterbox, plus I have gotten used to music and loud vaccums on cleaning day. I am a real character and sure to impress you if you just give me the chance to show you the real me. Please call to learn more about Whisker. Our bunnies are available for adoption in person by appointment at our adoption center in Fenton, MO, or you can meet a few bunnies and get some great information at the following Petsmart store locations and times: Due to COVID we are not in Petsmart stores at this time.
Please visit us at www. Eastern cottontails prefer open brushy or forest-border cover. The cottontail's usual home is a resting place or "form" concealed in a dense clump of grass, under a brush pile, or in a thicket. Providing good habitat is the key to increasing cottontail populations. If you wish to discourage them in gardens and other plantings, be sure to follow The Wildlife Code of Missouri.
Cottontails are an important game species. Rabbits feed almost entirely on plants. Their three favorite foods during all seasons are bluegrass, wheat, and white clover.
Other choice foods, when available, are red clover, Korean lespedeza, small and common crabgrass, timothy, and common chess. They also relish certain sedges, forbs, and cultivated plants. To survive during heavy snow cover, they eat buds, twigs, bark, and sprouts of shrubs, vines, and trees.
Cottontails are common in most years, but their numbers fluctuate with the availability of cover and habitat. Their numbers have been declining since due to habitat loss. Breeding season is from mid-February through September.
A female can produce 8 litters per year, though the average is fewer. Nests are shallow cavities in the ground lined with grass and fur.
There are 1—9 young per litter. At birth, the young are about 5 inches long, mostly naked, with eyes and ears closed. After a week, they become completely furred and their eyes and ears open. They leave the nest 13—16 days after birth. Most breed for the first time in the spring following their birth. In spite of the large number of young produced each year, only a very few survive to breed. There are reports of marked wild individuals reaching 5 years of age and of a captive eastern cottontail still living at 9 years of age.
The potential life is at least 10 years. Around , rabbits are harvested annually in Missouri, most of these being cottontails, with swamp rabbits a much smaller percentage. The fur, however, is not durable and thus has little commercial value. It is mostly used in making coats, hats, and clothing accessories like scarves, and for trimming and lining coats and gloves. Land use changes that affect plant composition on pastures and reduce the availability of brushy fence rows and winter forage have contributed to decreased populations of eastern cottontail.
Cottontails sometimes damage the edges of crop fields, and in winter when other foods are scarce, they may damage orchard or ornamental trees. Cottontail cuttings are easily identified because they are made at a degree angle from the vertical axis. When cottontails are readily available as food for wild predators, there is less predation on other game species and livestock. Some 44 percent of newborn cottontails die during their first month of life, and only 20 to 25 percent live to 1 full year.