The APPALACHIAN COTTONTAIL Story
Written
by
Joe Ewing
High HareMan
of the
Big Woods Hare
Hunters of the Allegheny
Photography
By
Brenda & Joe
Ewing
The tailgate
dropped, the first hound hit the ground and the race was on. Getting the
remaining beagles collared-up was the next challenge. Their lone kennel mate,
in full cry, had their adrenalin rush spiked. The more hounds hitting the
ground the wickeder it got.
Snowshoe hare tracks were plainly visible as we motored into the freshly snow-covered parking lot deep in the Allegheny National Forest. The hare had been in no hurry crossing the open ground, it was obvious, but what wasn’t obvious was when were the tracks made?
“When the tailgate drops the b.s. stops,” words often spoken by houndsmen. When they don’t actually utter the words, the thoughts are bouncing around in their brain. I’d predicted tracks in the parking lot, however, with my natural recognition of negative vibes I had that feeling my hunting partners were highly skeptical.
It was obvious the hare tracks were potently fresh. Within seconds the full complement of six hounds was in hot pursuit. Hound music reverberated across the hills. Just one slip and it seemed certain it would be curtains for the elusive animal. Six hunters spread out across the landscape in full and total disarray. All had sprinted to position themselves wherever they could to witness a magnificent snowshoe hare in flight. None carried firearms so it didn’t matter where they stood. The Pennsylvania snowshoe hare season was ancient history. In Pennsylvania the snowshoe hare season lasts only six days but not for the members of the Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny who run beagles and chase hare in all kinds of weather all winter long.
The hare led the hounds on a quick 200-hundred-yard dash. Just as rapidly the hare was making his turn, a short circle to be sure and was on his way back. I could see Andy, only a hundred yards to my left, on heightened alert. The closer the beagles came the more my heart pounded as it always does on every hare chase. Without warning a brown rabbit bolted across the opening. WHAT? Before I could get my wits together the six hounds were crossing the trail, lined out, each one vying for the lead and only seconds behind the rabbit.
With the beagle music quickly fading into the distance I motioned to Andy with a two-handed upward motion as if to say, “what the …?” With a return of the same motion and a shrug of the shoulders, Andy relayed that same surprised posture. We were here for the magnificent snowshoe hare not the wily cottontail. Finding a cottontail rabbit deep in the big woods of the Allegheny is a rare occasion. We were miles from civilization. This was not cottontail country.
The story does not end here. Soon the hounds turned and were heading in our direction at full cry once again. With a lesser amount of anticipation, I watched and waited, and, just as suddenly as before, WHAT? A white rabbit sailed across the path in one mighty bound. The pack had changed rabbits, possibly twice and all without making a single check. Incredible!
I pray these visions and memories linger in my mind forever.
Over the years we’ve found countless cottontails in many surprising locations on the Allegheny. The cottontails show up unexpectedly in front of the dogs. I could relate a hundred such stories but I shall refrain. You’ve probably heard them all before anyway. You know how old guys are.
In a 2003 article for THE RABBIT HUNTER I depicted how the Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny first became acquainted with the Appalachian cottontail.
In the summer of 2003, my now departed hunting buddy Jim and I were camping and hiking in the Enchanted Mountains of Western New York when, over the evening campfire and over our preferred beverage, I mentioned reading an article concerning a newly discovered rabbit. Jim was all excited and enthused and asked a host of questions which I tried to answer relying on my slightly impaired memory. From that day forward each and every time the beagles chased a cottontail on the Allegheny the question would come up as to what kind of cottontail the beagles could be running. The conversation would always go something like this, “how could a cottontail get way out here? Could it be an Appalachian cottontail?”
The Appalachian cottontail (Sylvilagus obscurus) was first identified in 1982 by researchers from Wytheville Community College in Virginia. This new brand of cottontail, originally discovered on Allegheny Mountain in West Virginia is sometimes called the “Allegheny cottontail”. This brand-new species of cottontail, which is neither an eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) or a New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis), was officially recognized as a separate species in 1992. The Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny may have crossed paths with the Appalachian cottontail various times long before 1982 and many times since.
At one time scientist believed the New England cottontail’s range extended as far south as Georgia and Alabama. Now scientists believe the cottontails found south of New York State are Appalachian cottontails and those found north of NY are New England cottontails. Any cottontail found below NY is either an eastern or Appalachian cottontail or so they theorize.
The Appalachian cottontail is a mysterious forest dwelling cottontail which inhabits the Appalachian Mountains at higher elevations. This shadowy and secretive cottontail inhabits thicker wooded cover, shrubby areas, brush and dense evergreen conifer stands.
The diet of the Appalachian cottontail includes a variety of grasses, ferns, shrubs and forbs (understory plants). Like the snowshoe hare the Appalachian feeds extensively on conifer needles, twigs and tree bark in winter.
Jim asked if there was any difference between eastern cottontail, Appalachian cottontail and snowshoe hare droppings. The short answer is, “no”, not to the naked eye anyway. DNA analysis is used to determine the difference in pellets. It is recognized Appalachian cottontails, eastern cottontails and snowshoe hares commonly reingest their dropping in a process called, “coprophagy”.
The Appalachian cottontail resembles the eastern cottontail very closely. It differs only in its slightly smaller size, shorter ears, a greater amount of black on the back and a narrow black patch on top of the head. Also, the rufous or rusty nap patch characteristic of eastern cottontails is missing. The only true way to tell the difference between eastern and Appalachian cottontails is by measuring the cranium after an autopsy.
In 2015 I updated my 2003 article in THE RABBIT HUNTER after the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) announced there were two cottontail species found in Pennsylvania and they were spending almost $26,000 to study the Appalachian cottontail throughout PA. It was stated, “Pennsylvania is believed to have 5% of the world’s breeding population”.
The study, led by PGC small animal biologist Emily Boyd, was to cover a time period of January 2014 through October of 2016. Various methods were proposed for collecting the data which included collecting cottontail skulls from hunters and the usual droppings (pellet) collection. Boyd conducted studies in the Northwest (NW), Northeast (NE) and Southwest (SW) regions of the state.
The cottontail head collection resulted in sixty-six (66) cottontail heads from twelve (12) Pennsylvania counties being submitted by hunters for analysis. The heads were delivered to the dermestid beetle colony at Delaware Valley University in Doylestown, PA for final processing. “Once cleaned, the skulls will be used to identify the cottontail species. DNA samples were collected from six skulls before processing began and were confirmed to be Appalachian cottontail skulls,” Boyd reported.
During
the 2014 pellet collection State Game Lands (SGLs) with Appalachian cottontails
had a majority of Appalachians compared to eastern cottontails. On SGL 111 in
Somerset and Fayette Counties in the SW region over
60% of the pellets collected turned out to be from Appalachian cottontails. On
SGL 48 in Harrison Township, Bedford County 25 pellet samples were from
Appalachian cottontails, only one (1) sample was from an eastern cottontail. On
SGL 104 in Somerset and Fayette Counties five (5) samples were from Appalachian
cottontail with, again, only one (1) sample being from an eastern cottontail.
The 2015 pellet collection found a previously undocumented population of Appalachian cottontails in McKean County (NW) in an area that also contained snowshoe hares. Appalachian cottontails were found on SGLs in Somerset and Fayette Counties (SW) and SGLs located in Bedford and Somerset Counties (SW). No Appalachian cottontails had been previously recorded in this region of Bedford County.
“The
lowest elevation with Appalachian cottontails was 2,100 ft,” the report stated.
Snowshoe hares and eastern cottontails were apparently also found at the highest
elevations. All Appalachian cottontail samples were from previously
undocumented locations.
One-hundred-seventy-nine (179) total pellet samples were collected and analyzed in the two years of pellet collection. Fifty-two (52) pellet samples turned out to be Appalachian cottontail droppings, 51 pellet samples originated from eastern cottontails and 52 samples were snowshoe hare pellets. Twenty-eight (28) pellet samples were not analyzed.
This reporter’s personal, humble and untrained analysis of the data listed in the study leads me and probably you to believe there is apparently a larger population of Appalachian cottontails in many more locations than previously assumed. The statement in the report which really hit home was, “The 2015 pellet collection season found a previously undocumented population of Appalachian cottontails in McKean County (NW) in an area that also contained snowshoe hares”. McKean County is practically my neighboring county and may tend to loosely confirm my story from the beginning of this piece.
I’m
respectfully unable to buy into the suggested theory that Appalachian
cottontails are found exclusively above 2,100 feet. My beagles have run these
possible/probable Appalachian cottontails at lower elevations than 2,100 feet.
It’s possible the PGCs researchers have never surveyed in lower elevations
which are aka, “previously undocumented locations” in the report.
Many researchers report Appalachian cottontails are “medium size” rabbits; however, most literature on Appalachian cottontails indicates they are smaller rabbits. I’m going with the smaller size. My beagles have chased countless smaller cottontails which were found in the middle of nowhere. These smaller cottontails proved to have less stamina than eastern cottontails and loads less than snowshoe hare. In other words, the beagles, on bare ground and on snow, ran the cottontails down.
Recently, a professor of Conservation Biology at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina, unearthed one of the biggest surprises yet. The Warren Wilson College study revealed, “hybridization occurs between Appalachian cottontails and eastern cottontails”.
The Appalachian cottontail’s own secretive and wild nature may be harmful to its future. Crossbreeding with eastern cottontails may also put it in jeopardy. The Appalachian cottontail is threatened by the destruction, maturing and fragmentation of its habitat which is caused by urban development, over-hunting and poor timberlands management.
In Pennsylvania, especially NW PA, the deer herd has been out of control for years. Large numbers of deer lead to over-browsing of forest vegetation which leads to heavy damage to the forest understory which hurts wildlife. Escape cover, nesting cover and food sources are destroyed for species like snowshoe hare, ruffed grouse, woodcock, turkey and Appalachian cottontail.
The next time I find a lonesome cottontail in the northern mountains I’m going to think twice. It could be a threatened and endangered Appalachian cottontail.
Email
us @: bigwoodsharehunters@gmail.com
