Animal
Eastern cottontail
Sylvilagus floridanus
The most-common rabbit across the eastern and central U.S. — small (2–4 lbs), with the iconic white-puff-of-tail underneath that gives the species its common name. Prefers brushy edges, hedgerows, meadows, and thicket habitat. Common across Staten Island wherever shrubby cover is available — Greenbelt edges, Mount Loretto grasslands, residential yards with hedges. Principal prey species for the borough's coyotes, foxes, hawks, and great horned owls.
Scientific
Sylvilagus floridanus is a 2–4 lb lagomorph (rabbit). Crepuscular (active dawn and dusk). Diet: grasses, herbaceous plants, twigs, bark in winter. Multiple litters per year — females can produce 3–4 litters of 4–5 young, and reach reproductive maturity at 3 months. Population dynamics: high reproductive rate balanced by very high predation.
Lifespan in the wild is short (1–2 years average) — cottontails are foundational prey species in eastern food webs, supporting hawks, owls, foxes, coyotes, weasels, snakes, and others.
On Staten Island
Common across the borough wherever brushy cover meets open foraging habitat. Greenbelt edges, [[mount-loretto-unique-area|Mount Loretto]] grasslands, [[conference-house-park|Conference House Park]] edges, residential yards with hedges or brush. Conspicuous at dusk and dawn. The species’ abundance directly supports the borough’s predator populations — including the small but real coyote population and the year-round red-tailed hawk and great horned owl populations.
See also
Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.
- Substrate of: [[red-tailed-hawk]]
- Member of: [[animal]]
- Contained by: [[staten-island]]
Sources
- [[beacon-ny|New York]] State DEC small-mammal records
- NYC Parks Wildlife Unit observations
Rooted in life.
What links here, and how
Inbound connections from across the wiki, grouped by lens and by relationship. These appear automatically — every entity page declares what it links to, and that data populates here on the targets.
Nothing yet. This entry is currently one node away from the rest of the graph — links will appear here automatically as the wiki grows. Each new entity that mentions this one in its relations frontmatter shows up here.
0 inbound links · 3 outbound