Despite the cartoon image of a bunny popping out of a hole, the wild rabbits most people see in North America live on top of the ground, not under it. Cottontails rely on hiding in thick cover rather than digging.1Private Lands Wildlife. Rabbit Burrows: Complete Guide to How Rabbits Dig and Nest The rabbit that does live underground in big tunnel networks is the European rabbit, the ancestor of pet rabbits. So where a wild bunny lives depends a lot on which kind of rabbit it is and where in the world you are.
Where Cottontails Rest During the Day
A cottontail’s daytime home is a shallow scrape in the ground just big enough for its body.2Private Lands Wildlife. Rabbit Burrows: Complete Guide to How Rabbits Dig and Nest Cottontails generally don’t dig tunnels, though they may use burrows dug by other animals, so the form is usually the shelter.3Private Lands Wildlife. Rabbit Burrows: Complete Guide to How Rabbits Dig and Nest Forms are tucked under fallen trees, shrubs, woodpiles, brush piles, thickets, hedgerows, or tall grass along field edges.4Penn State Extension. Managing Habitat for Eastern Cottontails
If you find one, it looks like an oval patch of flattened or scraped ground about the size of a rabbit. The grass around it is often pressed down and may hold a few loose hairs. It usually sits under an overhang of branches or tall stems, and there is no entrance tunnel going down.
Cottontails also tend to sit in the middle of a patch of shrubs, where predators at eye level can barely see them.5Western North American Naturalist. A Comparison of Diurnal Resting Sites Used by Sylvilagus audubonii and Lepus californicus in the Chihuahuan Desert They are built to freeze and hide rather than outrun danger.6Western North American Naturalist. A Comparison of Diurnal Resting Sites Used by Sylvilagus audubonii and Lepus californicus in the Chihuahuan Desert A still, brown rabbit blends with dead leaves and soil, and hawks and foxes notice movement more than shape. The rabbit runs only when a threat gets very close. That’s why a rabbit that bolts from almost under your feet was likely sitting in its resting scrape the whole time.
A rabbit may reuse the same scrape rather than dig a fresh one, so a spot that looks undisturbed can still be in regular use. Many cottontails are most active around dawn and dusk, so daytime is when they sit tight.
Where Wild Rabbits Hide Their Babies
An eastern cottontail raises its young in a shallow depression lined with grass and fur.7Fish and Wildlife Habitat Management Leaflet. Eastern Cottontail The mother digs the hollow, lines it with plants, then lines it with fur pulled from her own body.8American Midland Naturalist. Nest Building, Parturition, and Copulation in the Cottontail Rabbit A typical nest hole is about 5 inches deep, 5 inches wide, and 7 inches long, roughly the size of a cereal bowl.9US Forest Service Research and Development. Sylvilagus floridanus, eastern cottontail That makes a nest easy to miss and easy to mow over. People often mistake the patch for debris or a spot where a pet has shed, so look for the neat, cup-like shape under the covering.
Cottontail nests are usually within 150 feet of a field edge.10Penn State Extension. Managing Habitat for Eastern Cottontails Swamp rabbits live in wet lowland areas of the southern United States. Swamp rabbits often build nests against or under fences, tree bases, boards, and shelters.11Journal of Mammalogy. Parental Behavior in Swamp Rabbits Swamp rabbit mothers also build decoy nests that are never used, about half as many as real ones.12Journal of Mammalogy. Parental Behavior in Swamp Rabbits So an empty-looking lined hollow may simply be a spare.
Mother rabbits block or cover the nest after nursing before they leave, which hides the babies from predators.13Applied Animal Behaviour Science. The influence of pup odour on the nest related behaviour of rabbit does (Oryctolagus cuniculus) A nest with no adult nearby is normal, not abandoned. She stays away most of the day so her scent doesn’t lead predators to the young, and she typically returns only briefly to nurse. Watching from close by can keep her away.
If you find a nest in your lawn, re-cover it with its grass and fur and leave it alone. Mark the spot and mow around it, and keep dogs and cats away for a few weeks. Young cottontails leave the nest within about three weeks. Call a wildlife rehabilitator if babies are hurt or cold, or if a pet has disturbed the nest.
Spots in Your Yard Where Rabbits Settle
In yards, rabbits favor spots near bushes or trees and under or beside covered porches and sheds.14Varment Guard. How to Keep Rabbits Out of Your Yard They sometimes nest in open lawn, especially where grass is tall.15Varment Guard. How to Keep Rabbits Out of Your Yard Fence lines, window wells, and gaps between garages are other common places to look.16Varment Guard. How to Keep Rabbits Out of Your Yard A rabbit often rests only feet from a path or patio, and because it hides rather than runs, you only notice it when it finally flees.
Before mowing in spring and summer, walk tall grass slowly and look for a patch of dry grass mixed with fur. Check under decks and around sheds before blocking them off, and remember that woodpiles and brush piles can hide resting adults.
You can also tilt a yard toward fewer or more rabbits. Removing brush piles and keeping grass short reduces cover, and closing gaps under porches and sheds takes away shelter. Do that exclusion work outside nesting season so no young are trapped. If you’d rather keep rabbits around, a brush pile at the edge of the lot gives them a home away from your garden.
The European Rabbit and Its Underground Warrens
European rabbits dig warrens, which are complex underground tunnel systems.17Private Lands Wildlife. Rabbit Burrows: Complete Guide to How Rabbits Dig and Nest One 5-year-old warren had 150 entrances and over 500 meters of tunnels, about a third of a mile.18Wildlife Research. The History and Structure of a Large Warren of the Rabbit, Oryctolagus-Cuniculus, at Canberra, Act The rabbits had moved over 10 cubic meters of soil, about a small dump-truck load.19Wildlife Research. The History and Structure of a Large Warren of the Rabbit, Oryctolagus-Cuniculus, at Canberra, Act But they stopped digging at about 70 centimeters, roughly knee to waist deep, where they hit hard soil.20Wildlife Research. The History and Structure of a Large Warren of the Rabbit, Oryctolagus-Cuniculus, at Canberra, Act Those figures come from a single old, busy tunnel system, so they show what is possible rather than what every one looks like.
Inside, tunnels branch and connect so a rabbit entering one hole can leave by another, giving the group several escape routes. Many entrances sit close together, so the surface looks like a cluster of holes rather than one opening. Rabbits spend much of the day underground and come out to graze, usually near the entrances.
Soil shapes where these systems go. Warrens cluster where loose, crumbly soil runs at least 75 centimeters deep, because shallow soils get too hot to shelter in.21Wildlife Research. Distribution of Rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus, Warrens in relation to Soil Type Warrens in sand have fewer entrances, longer tunnels, and run deeper,22Journal of Zoology. The burrow structure of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus L.) and those dug into slopes also run deeper.23Journal of Zoology. The burrow structure of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus L.)
These are family territories. European rabbits live in stable territorial groups that share a tunnel system, and females usually stay in their home group while young males leave.24Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. From population structure to individual behaviour: genetic analysis of social structure in the European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) Grazing is heaviest close to burrows, so short, lawn-like turf often surrounds a warren.25PubMed. Experimental manipulation of predation risk and food quality: effect on grazing behaviour in a central-place foraging herbivore
North Americans might still run into the signs. European rabbits are widespread in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Pet rabbits are domesticated European rabbits, so a released pet may dig. A warren shows as many holes close together with dirt piles, while a lone hole in a US yard is more often a groundhog or other digger.
Why a Burrow Is Worth the Digging
A burrow stays at a moderate, steady temperature with damp air, set by the surrounding soil.26CSIRO Wildlife Research. The ability of the wild rabbit to survive conditions of water restriction Rabbits in burrows lose less water and handle heat better.27CSIRO Wildlife Research. The ability of the wild rabbit to survive conditions of water restriction In one winter study, the air above ground swung from about minus 18 to 23°C while the burrow stayed between about minus 4 and 2°C.28PubMed Central. Seasonal temperature acclimatization in a semi-fossorial mammal and the role of burrows as thermal refuges
Dry air pulls water out of an animal’s body through breathing and skin, so humid air in a burrow slows that loss. Soil holds moisture and changes temperature slowly, which keeps a burrow steadier than the air above it.
Surface-dwelling cottontails must rely on dense plant cover instead. They pick thicker, lower cover in hot or windy weather, and snow and brush piles act as insulation in winter. Desert cottontails reshape their resting scrapes as temperatures change.29Western North American Naturalist. A Comparison of Diurnal Resting Sites Used by Sylvilagus audubonii and Lepus californicus in the Chihuahuan Desert
Rabbits in Deserts, Swamps, and Sagebrush
Desert cottontails rest in scrapes under shrubs and reshape them or dig burrows as temperatures shift.30Western North American Naturalist. A Comparison of Diurnal Resting Sites Used by Sylvilagus audubonii and Lepus californicus in the Chihuahuan Desert Shade is scarce in a desert, so which shrub a rabbit sits under matters a great deal. They favor bursage and tall plants over about 5 feet for shade, and rarely use mesquite or creosote.31The Journal of Wildlife Management. Habitat Characteristics of 3 Leporid Species in Southeastern Arizona Because they sometimes dig, a desert cottontail is not a strict surface-only rabbit like cottontails in wetter regions.
Jackrabbits, which are hares, mostly rest in mesquite and creosote and do not dig.32Western North American Naturalist. A Comparison of Diurnal Resting Sites Used by Sylvilagus audubonii and Lepus californicus in the Chihuahuan Desert You can tell them from cottontails by their long ears and legs. Hares run from danger while cottontails hide, and jackrabbits rest at the edges of shrub patches while cottontails sit in the middle. Baby hares are born furred and open-eyed, unlike rabbit young.
The pygmy rabbit is the only North American rabbit that regularly digs its own burrows.33Private Lands Wildlife. Rabbit Burrows: Complete Guide to How Rabbits Dig and Nest It depends on tall, dense big sagebrush and deep soil for burrows, food, and shelter,34Biological Conservation. Effects of cattle grazing on ecology and habitat of Columbia Basin pygmy rabbits (Brachylagus idahoensis) so it lives only in the sagebrush country of the Great Basin.35Biological Conservation. Effects of cattle grazing on ecology and habitat of Columbia Basin pygmy rabbits (Brachylagus idahoensis) Unless you are in Great Basin sagebrush, you are unlikely to meet one.