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Rabbit Habitat

by David Lockard :: Featured: January, 2003

Anyone that has hunted for many years has asked themselves questions concerning the population of game. It becomes of even more concern when we have not been successful in the field, although I am not sure that you can really say that any day in the field rabbit hunting with your dog was an unsuccessful day. I remember of times past when rabbits where plentiful and the action seemed continuous. Today it seems that the only place that the rabbits are plentiful, is in my garden.

Over the years of talking with fellow hunters and I have heard many theories for this decline. Some would say it's the fault of predators, such as fox, coyotes, hawks, and house cats. Others claim that it's farming practices and pesticides, and still another theory says that it is the encroachment of civilization on habitat.

I contacted our state game department to inquire into the reason for the decline of the cottontail rabbit to find out what they thought the cause was. The quick answer is habitat. All the other factors have some impact, but the single item that most effects the population is habitat. The reason I am seeing fewer rabbits, is because farm fields are striped bare at the end of the season under clean farming practices. Housing is expanding into our hunting grounds, and fence rows that once existed between fields and properties have been removed.

There is a temptation to become self-righteous and start blaming our favorite villain for this problem. I don't know about you but I like my house and I like to eat what the farmers are growing and I can also remember how badly I caught poison ivy from playing in those fence rows as a kid. So I can't just casually condemn what I have benefited from.

The interesting detail that I learned from my inquiry with the Game Department was that at the beginning of the 20th century their was a timber boom throughout our state that caused massive deforestation. I have seen pictures from that time. Land was cleared of timber and I thought how strange these familiar locations looked with everything so bare. This deforestation however was the cause of the population boom of the cottontail rabbit due the habitat creation that resulted from the timbering.

The land that was laid bare sprang up in tender new growth along with briers and thickets which was ideal for the rabbits. As time moved on the undergrowth was succeeded by shrubs and eventually by full grown trees again. The result was a slow decline of rabbit habitat and it has been declining ever since.

I remember years ago of being taken by surprise when I first heard of a practice applied by the local Indian population before the area was settled by Europeans. It was the practice of setting fires to burn the forest. At the time I thought that sounded contradictory to their reputation, for being at one with the land. What they knew however was that after the forest had burned that new plant growth and a resurgence of wildlife would occur providing game, and fruits, and berries that sustained them.

If the rabbit suddenly became so idealized by the general population that its protection was foremost in everyone's thinking we could adopt a massive deforestation plan and create the best rabbit hunting ever, but such a radical plan would have drastic implications else where.

My interest in rabbit hunting is at times at odds with the farmers profit which he needs because the land cost more then the value of the crops that can be raised on that land. We can storm about trying to force changes towards older outdated farming practices, and we can endeavor to stop development, but we will likely make enemies along the way. Just as beating our dogs into submission is not the way to make a true hunting buddy. We should guard against being seen as an enforcer to those whom we wish to receive cooperation. Rewards and encouragement is the only true way to train your dog with an occasional "no" thrown in to define the limits beyond which we don't want them to go.

Scientist that have studied wildlife can tell us what their needs are. We need to be familiar with habitat requirements not only for the success of the hunt but to help encourage land owners and to help them with habitat improvement. In the state of Pennsylvania there is a program which will pay a land owners to turn a formerly drained wetland from farming back into a wetland. Some of this land is difficult to farm, because of stuck farm equipment and the inability to plant and harvest crops in the proper season, making some farmers glad to take part in the program. Developers can be encouraged to leave green ways along natural drainage areas which become wildlife corridors.

Trout Unlimited has been doing good work with this kind of approach. Near my home a trout stream was adopted and after years of working with land owners. They have undertaken stream side fencing projects to keep cattle out of the stream and to allow natural vegetation growth along the banks providing shade which helps lower the water temperature in the summer. This allows the fish can survive through the hottest days of summer and natural breeding to occur in the fall. They have installed fence crossing ladders so that fisherman do not break down fences. The result of their efforts has made such an improvement on the stream that it has become a prize stream for trout fishing and a proud accomplishment for everyone concerned. The farmers are happy because they are protecting the environment the fisherman are happy with the native fish that now live in the stream. A windfall of this project is that rabbit hunting has improved.

We are living in a modern world where people are now reading this on a computer instead of on paper. We must become modern in our approach to habitat improvement as well. We should become members of beagle clubs and other organizations which share our common interest and we should become experts in habitat improvement and public relations towards that end. If we are good at these relations developers and farmers will seek use out, or at least respect what he can do for them, rather than to them. Deforestation would do the job, but if we take into consideration the needs of those in our community we can work together for improvements that will help each others interests.