18” of snow? What’s a Rabbit to do?

In January we had heavy snow falls and frigid weather. Snow in our backyard measured at least 18” in height. So, I confined my shoveling to sidewalks and paths to our doors. Despite the lack of a path through our yard, it didn’t stop one intrepid rabbit. It traversed the yard. The average weight of a cottontail is 2.5 pounds. The jumping bunny sunk into powdery snow.

Cottontail shoulder height is about 7” to 9”. The rabbit had to leap high to clear the snow. That height didn’t enable it to hop far horizontally. A deep, closely spaced line of tracks was created. That night, I photographed the trail. A few days later, after another snowfall, a new set of tracks appeared in the expanse of snow.

Rabbit tracks in deep snow

Traces of rabbits are erased by layers of flakes. Sometimes we obliterate the imprints with boots and shovels. Cold bright sunshine slowly evaporates the snow, softening the edges of paw prints. But, after a few weeks, the deep tracks are still visible as the thick layer of snow shrinks lower.

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