Home Range and Movements of the Eastern Cottontail in Kansas

Home Range and Movements of the Eastern Cottontail in Kansas is by Donald W. Janes and was published May 4, 1959. The introduction says a knowledge of the home range and movements of the cottontail is one of the most important prerequisites for estimating effectively its numbers and managing its populations. The text describes the area as an alternating series of three wooded slopes and two grass-covered, relatively level areas, the wooded slopes rising from the valley for about 125 feet at a grade of approximately 16 per cent. The text lists the vegetation of the northwest-facing wooded slopes as American elm, shagbark hickory, chestnut oak, black oak and black walnut, in that order of dominance.

For cottontails whose entire home ranges were thought to have been sampled, the average of the longest distance traveled between captures was 900 feet for males and 684 feet for females. The text says that in uniform habitat the home range is roughly circular and is used most near its center and least toward its periphery, and that the entire home range is traversed every four or five days.