Cottontail rabbit after it snowed in a Squirrel Hill backyard, Dec 2025 (photo by an anonymous friend)

12 December 2025

The eastern cottontail population in my city neighborhood comes and goes. In some years we have so many rabbits in late summer that they scuttle in front of us during the day. In other years we rarely see one. Their ebb and flow is directly related to the presence of red-tailed hawks and owls who eat them, and to the time of year. We see lots of rabbits in late summer when the young disperse and few in winter.

So where do rabbits go in winter?

A Squirrel Hill friend of mine found out. She usually doesn’t see rabbits in her yard but one showed up in late October to shelter under the ninebark bush outside her window (photo below). For several weeks he visited every 3 or 4 days. He probably he had other daytime protected spots around the neighborhood. 

Cottontail rabbit before it snowed in a Squirrel Hill backyard, Nov 2025 (photo by an anonymous friend)

But this week, she writes, “Now that all the leaves are down the landscaping crews have been removing every bit of downed litter.  Many, but not all, the yards are cleaner than my carpets.  The cottontail has been under my tree for 5 days running.” (photo at top)

As winter progresses suitable cover becomes increasingly scarce everywhere, in the wild and in backyards. Vermont Fish and Wildlife explains (paraphrased):

Winter is the most difficult time of year for rabbits.

In Vermont, snow cover limits the distribution and densities of the cottontail population. Because they are poorly camouflaged in snow, winter cover needs are acute for cottontails. They depend on low growing woody vegetation for food as well as for escape and thermal cover.

Cottontails will select areas of better cover over areas with abundant food if both are not found together. Rabbits have two different cover requirements: feeding cover and resting/escape cover. Dense vegetation can provide adequate summer cover, but in order for the rabbit to survive the Vermont winters, dense woody vegetation(*) such as that found in old fields is critical.

Eastern cottontails are active day and night year-round. They spend their days resting on “form,” or small, scratched out depressions in clumps of grass or under brush piles. During the night or during periods of heavy snow, cottontails may use underground dens of woodchucks as temporary shelter.

Fifteen years ago, in December 2010, I wondered where rabbits went in the winter so I asked readers to comment on this article and tell me what they’d seen.

I’ve summarized their 39 comments below:

• When rabbits shelter in backyards they may be under bushes, under a low deck, in woodchuck holes, or even in those large black ribbed plastic coils used for runoff.
• Rabbits favor backyards with bird feeders because they eat the fallen seeds at night. They’ll also eat handouts such as carrots.
• Some rabbits appear at dusk, others prefer late night forays after 10pm.
• When there’s snow cover people figure out where the rabbits are by looking for their tracks. Hawks and owls do the same. I swear some rabbits are smart about this and walk on the snowless patches so you can’t track them.
• Rabbits’ natural winter food is woody stems which they eat up as far as they can reach. If you have rabbits you will have to protect shrubs and young trees; rabbits girdle them.
• If you have a dog that likes to chase rabbits, you will know exactly where those rabbits are!

On the subject of dogs, my favorite comment in the December 2010 blog was from Anne Curtis:

There’s at least one rabbit that is out off Beeler St. at about 11:30 pm in my front yard, because that’s the last time I take our dog out for the night, and it torments her by standing there, saying “I’m a statue and you can’t see me!” but of course she can from the contrast! No bunny tracks in the back, but lots of (feral) cat tracks. Hmmm? A connection?

(*) Ninebark is dense woody vegetation, thus favored by the rabbit.