APPEALING LAWN MAMMALS

     Suburban lawns in southeastern Pennsylvania are homes to a handful of adaptable mammals.  But skunks, chucks, bats, coyotes and other kinds are not usually welcome.  However, cottontail rabbits and gray squirrels, though they can cause trouble on lawns, are more appealing to many folks. 

     Cottontails have large, dark eyes and soft, brown fur.  Gray squirrels are intelligent and inquisitive and, therefore, interesting.  The squirrels plot treetop routes among the boughs, and figure how to get to squirrel-proof bird feeders, often to the dismay of human owners.  Both these furry species are active on many lawns the year around, the rabbits mostly at night and the squirrels during the day.  I even see cottontails silhouetted on snow on our lawn at night.  

     This kind of rabbit is a creature of protective shrubbery and vine thickets next to habitats of grass.  Gray squirrels inhabit deciduous woods.  Older suburbs are human-made habitats of lawns, and planted bushes and trees, many of which bear berries or nuts.  

     These rabbits and squirrels both live in maturing suburbs without competition for food or cover with each other.  Rabbits live exclusively on the ground and consume a variety of greens, including grass, clover and others.  Squirrels retreat up tall trees and feed on nuts, berries and tree buds. 

     Cottontails hide by day under sheltering bushes and outdoor, utility sheds, places where females also raise young.  But by late afternoon or early evening, year around, they venture forth to feed, and look for mates during spring and summer evenings.  And while dining, they always need to watch out for great horned owls, coyotes and house cats.            

     These rabbits are entertaining at times on many lawns.  From mid-February to September, males chase females to mate with them, often leaping exuberantly into the air as they run.  Each female could raise about five young per litter and can produce up to three litters a year.  That's 15 young per female.  But that doesn't happen because of predatory critters.  

     Gray squirrels shelter the year around in tree cavities, or in bulky, cozy leaf nests they construct themselves in crotches of tall trees.  Each female attempts to raise two broods of young a year, with four or five babies in each litter.   

     During September and October, gray squirrels are readily noticed gathering nuts.  They work industriously, stashing away their prizes in tree hollows, or holes they dig in soil for safe keeping for winter use.    

     While working, and all the time, these squirrels need to watch for red-tailed hawks, Cooper's hawks and house cats.  These predators are ever-watchful for small creatures to catch from ambush and ingest, often right on our lawns.

     Cottontail rabbits and gray squirrels are common, appealing mammals that live on many suburban lawns the year around.  They are entertaining at times and welcomed by some people, even though they can cause trouble in lawns and gardens.  To me, they are just neat to have as furry neighbors.  

       

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