Adult pygmy rabbit, Brachylagus idahoensis, at Mono County warren
In mid July, this micro character popped out of the burrow and started hanging around.
Juvenile pygmy rabbit at burrow entrance - a pygmy pygmy!
My inspection of the details suggests all the photos captured are of a single individual. Pygmy rabbits can have 6+ young per litter, so only seeing 1 in a reasonably good season is interesting.
Awwww...
Much like the parents, juvie quickly learned to enjoy lazing about in the warmth of the sun.
Juvenile pygmy rabbit napping in morning sun
Aside from the addition of the juvenile, the on-camera bunny interactions at the burrow in July-October were generally status-quo.
Pair of pygmy rabbits at burrow (dad and mom, I think)
But on occasion, did get a bit frisky.
Pygmy rabbits dancing in the dark
The rabs also inspected the camera every-so-often.
And/or nibbled the sagebrush the cam was nestled in.
Pygmy rabbit inspecting cam trap
No dust bathing was caught on cam this season. Perhaps the bunnies chose to do it elsewhere, or maybe there wasn't the same seasonal demand with the mild, moist, sagebrush-rich summer.
But the pygmies did often hang out and groom.
Handsome little dude. Scars, nicks and molting marks included.
Adult pygmy rabbit at end of September
Next up - all the other species that visited this pygmy rabbitat in 2015.
Btw - if you enjoy the pygmies, I highly recommend this Nature Conservancy article on the endangered Columbia Basin population of pygmy rabbits. The photos are terrific and the re-introduction science fascinating.
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References:
- Nature of a Man (this blog) - Back in the Bunny Zone Part 1
- Nature Conservancy Magazine - Cool Green Science - Pygmy Bunnies on the Brink
- Nature of a Man (this blog) - Pygmy Rabbitat Round-up
- Nature of a Man (this blog) - Dust-Bathing Beauties
- Nature of a Man (this blog) - Jealous Jacks
- Nature of a Man (this blog) - I Brake for Brachys
- Nature of a Man (this blog) - Splitting Hares
- Nature of a Man (this blog) - Pygmies of the Great Basin
- Eveline Séquin Larrucea, University of Nevada Reno - Distribution, Behavior, and Habitat Preferences of the Pygmy Rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis) in Nevada and California
- Joye Harold Severaid, Journal of Mammalogy, vol 31, February 1950 - The Pigmy Rabbit (Sylvilagus idahoensis) in Mono County, California
- E. W. Jameson, Jr., and Hans J. Peeters, UCPress - Mammals of California
- U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service - Species Profile for Pygmy Rabbit
- Douglas A. Keinath and Matthew McGee - Species Assessment for Pygmy Rabbit in Wyoming prepared for the Bureau of Land Management
- Wikipedia - Pygmy rabbit
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