Cottontails in GURPS

Cottontails are distributed across the Americas. They get their name from their short white tail, resembling a cottonball. They typically live in shallow depressions called forms, which they scratch out of the dirt within cover, such as a clump of grass or under a bush. These animals are nocturnal and crepuscular. They typically prefer areas in the open close to cover. If threatened they run in a zig-zag pattern toward cover. Because they are not as fast as many of their predators they must rely on evasion and cover for escape - fortunately they are extremely agile. These are not social animals. They tend to be solitary, other than mothers toward their cubs, and cranky towards others of their own species.

• The eastern cottontail Sylvilagus floridanus is found throughout the eastern seaboard of the United States west through the Great Plains from the Gulf Coast north to the Great Lakes, isolated pockets of the West Coast, Southwest, and Inland Northwest, much of Mexico and Central America, and the northern tip of South America. It lives in grassy clearings, fields, pastures, lawns, meadows, and glades near shrubs or dense vegetation for cover. They may also be found in swamps and marshes. Mass ranges from 0.8 to 2 kg, with females slightly larger on average than males.
• New Eangland cottontails Sylvilagus transitionalis are found in fragmented populations from Maine to New York. They are nearly indentical to eastern cottontails and it usually requires an expert to examine the skull or analyze the DNA to tell them apart.
• Appalachian cottontails Sylvilagus obscurus are, as one might expect, found in the Appalachian Mountains in areas of high elevation. Mass ranges from 0.8 to 1.5 kg.
• The brush rabbit Sylvilagus bachmani is a western cottontail, found along the West Coast of North America from the Columbia River south to Baja California. It lives in areas of dense, brushy cover, commonly chaparral, brushland, or grassland as well as brushy areas in oak or conifer woodlands and forests, in which it makes a network of trails and runways. Unlike other cottontails it rarely ventures out into open areas. It is a small cottontail, rarely exceeding 1 kg.
• The desert cottontail Sylvilagus audubonii is found in near-desert grasslands and dry forest ranging from Montana in the north south to central Mexico and west to California and Baja. It gets all the water it needs from its food and from dew but it will drink if water is available.
• The Mexican cottontail Sylvilagus cunicularius is found in forests and pastureland in central Mexico.
• The mountain cottontail Sylvilagus nuttallii lives in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States, west through the Great Basin and the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains and the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
• The marsh rabbit Sylvilagus palustris is a cottontail found along the Atlantic coast of the United States from Virginia south to Florida, including all of the Florida Peninsula and along the Florida Gulf Coast. Those in southern Florida are often completely black. Mass ranges from 1 to 1.6 kg. They are found in marshy habitat, including brackish and freshwater marshes of cattails, cypress, mangroves, tidal marshes, and sandy islands. Unlike most other lagomorphs, they tend to walk rather than hop and have relatively short hind legs. In addition to sheltering in dense vegetation, they will also hide submerged in water with just their eyes and nose exposed and their ears laid back flat.
• The swamp rabbit Sylvilagus aquaticus is found in swamps and wetlands of the southeastern United States, from Gulf Texas to western Florida and north to Arkansas and Tennessee. It is one of the largest of the cottontails, with mass ranging from 1.4 to 2.7 kg and females on average larger than males. As might be expected, it is a skilled swimmer.
• The tapeti Sylvilagus brasiliensis lives in Central and South America, from northern Argentina to the Gulf Coast of Mexico. It is found in forest clearings and meadows, near swamps and along rivers edges, and in gardens. These are the only leporid (rabbit or hare) native to South America.

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