Surrogate Parenting and Developmental Stages of Newborn Western Desert Cottontails (Sylvilagus audubonii) and a Black–tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus californicus) Nursed by a Western Desert Cottontail

Abstract

During the summer of 2005, the authors had an unusual opportunity to observe, document, and photograph a surrogate nursing western desert cottontail as she raised several litters of orphaned western desert cottontails and, to the authors’ surprise, a newborn orphaned black–tailed jackrabbit. Given the extent to which adult cottontails usually go to avoid any exposure to humans, the authors were surprised by this adult cottontail’s response. This opportunity opened an amazing window into the interactions and displays that can exist between a surrogate mother rabbit and foster young. This adult also helped clarify the sequence of nursing and separation behaviors that may occur in the wild. This article attempts to fill in a few of the pieces missing in our knowledge about these animals, both descriptively and pictorially.