Desert Cottontail
Desert CottontailDesert CottontailDesert CottontailDesert Cottontail

Desert Cottontail

Sylvilagus audubonii

Least ConcernNear ThreatenedVulnerableEndangeredCritically Endangered
20–30% · Possible
overall probability at Big Bend National Park
91 Verified records at Big Bend National Park
September Best month highest sighting rate
🌅 Crepuscular When it's active at dawn and dusk

The desert cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii), also known as Audubon's cottontail, is a New World cottontail rabbit, and a member of the family Leporidae. Unlike the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), they do not form social burrow systems, but compared with some other leporids, they are extremely tolerant of other individuals in their vicinity. Cottontails give birth to their kits in burrows vacated by other mammals. They sometimes cool off, or take refuge in scratched out shallow created depressions of their own making, using their front paws like a back hoe. They are not usually active in the middle of the day, but can be observed foraging in the early morning, and early evening. Cottontails are rarely found out of their burrows looking for food on windy days, because the wind interferes with their ability to hear approaching predators, their primary defense mechanism. Wikipedia →

20–30% of wildlife watchers report a Desert Cottontail sighting in Big Bend National Park, based on 91 days of visitor records from GBIF citizen-science data.

Closest Relatives at Big Bend National Park

Black-tailed Jackrabbit
LC Endemic

Black-tailed Jackrabbit

🌅 Crepuscular Mammal

Lepus californicus

10–20% · With luck

📅 Monthly Probability

10–20
Jan
20–30
Feb
10–20
Mar
20–30
Apr
30–40
May
20–30
Jun
30–40
Jul
10–20
Aug
30–40
Sep
20–30
Oct
10–20
Nov
5–10
Dec

🌅 When They're Spotted

Most active at dawn and dusk · across all parks (global)

🌅Crepuscular
☀️🌙🌙12am6am12pm6pm12am

Global Distribution

Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.

where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is)  ·  parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Probability
1 Badlands National Park 🇺🇸 United States
40–50%
2 Joshua Tree National Park 🇺🇸 United States
30–40%
3 Death Valley National Park 🇺🇸 United States
30–40%
4 Channel Islands National Park 🇺🇸 United States
20–30%
5 Big Bend National Park 🇺🇸 United States
20–30%
6 Grand Canyon National Park 🇺🇸 United States
10–20%
7 El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
10–20%
8 Zion National Park 🇺🇸 United States
10–20%
9 Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks 🇺🇸 United States
5–10%
10 Cumbres de Monterrey National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
11 Rocky Mountain National Park 🇺🇸 United States
Insufficient data

Quick answers

What are the chances of seeing a Desert Cottontail in Big Bend National Park?

About 24% of wildlife watchers report a Desert Cottontail sighting in Big Bend National Park, based on 91 days of visitor records from GBIF citizen-science data.

When is the best time to see Desert Cottontail in Big Bend National Park?

September has the highest sighting rate for Desert Cottontail in Big Bend National Park in our monthly data.

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