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Fun Facts
Did You Know?
Unlike eastern cottontails, which are solitary but not strongly territorial, swamp rabbits maintain territories and establish dominance hierarchies. Males rank themselves through displays of aggression — vocalizations, foot-stamping, and occasional physical fighting. Higher-ranking males get access to better territories and more mating opportunities. Females also establish hierarchies, though with less overt aggression than males. Swamp rabbits are noticeably more aggressive than cottontails when handled. Researchers who trap both species report that cottontails remain docile in the hand…
If This Animal Could Talk...
"Watch closely, respect my space, and let my habitat explain the rest of the story."
Swamp rabbits are the largest cottontails in North America, and the only rabbits in North Louisiana that will jump into a river to escape a dog. Sylvilagus aquaticus — the scientific name translates roughly to "water rabbit of the forest" — is a semi-aquatic, territorial, nocturnal rabbit that lives in the bottomland hardwood forests of the Mississippi Valley, is most abundant in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and once swam up to the fishing boat of a sitting President of the United States. The Jimmy Carter swamp rabbit incident of 1979 remains the most famous single interaction between a human and a swamp rabbit in recorded history, and the rabbit came out of the story looking better than the President did.
In North Louisiana, swamp rabbits inhabit the bottomland hardwood forests along the Ouachita, Red, Tensas, Boeuf, and Black river systems. Anywhere the floodplain still holds timber — cypress swamps, canebrakes, flooded forests, the thick understory of BLH (bottomland hardwood) forest — swamp rabbits are present. They are locally abundant in the core of their habitat and essentially absent from the upland pine forests and open agricultural landscapes where eastern cottontails dominate. The two species overlap where bottomland edges meet upland habitat, but swamp rabbits rarely stray far from water, and cottontails rarely venture into swamp.
A Few More Facts
How they hunt and forage: Swamp rabbits are herbivores that feed on grasses, sedges, reeds, cane, aquatic vegetation, and the woody browse available in BLH forest understory. Cane — the native switch cane (Arundinaria spp.) that once formed dense canebrakes across the floodplains of the South — is a historically important food source, and the common name "cane cutter" reflects the rabbit's association with this habitat.Feeding happens primarily at night. During the day, swamp rabbits rest in shallow depressions (forms) in tall grass, dense understory, or under logs and fallen trees. A swamp rabbit in a form during daylight is motionless and nearly invisible, relying on camouflage and the dense vegetation of BLH forest to avoid detection. If a predator gets too close, the rabbit flushes and runs — fast, in a zigzag pattern, heading for water.
Live birth or eggs? yes
When young are born: At night, they emerge to forage, and a flashlight beam along a bayou bank or BLH forest edge may catch eyeshine or the brief image of a large, dark rabbit before it flushes.The most accessible non-visual sign of swamp rabbit presence is fecal pellets.
What Is the Swamp Rabbit Often Confused With?
Swamp rabbits weigh 4 to 6 pounds — roughly twice the size of an eastern cottontail. Males are slightly larger than females. Body length runs 16 to 22 inches. The fur is darker and coarser than a cottontail's, ranging from dark rusty brown to black on the head and back, with a white throat, white belly, and the standard cottontail white tail. A cinnamon-colored ring around each eye is a useful field mark. The hind legs and feet are orange or reddish-brown, in contrast to the cottontail's tan or whitish hind feet.Ears are proportionally smaller than a cottontail's — medium-sized rather than large — and the skull is bigger and heavier. The overall impression of a swamp rabbit compared to a cottontail is a darker, chunkier, more robust animal that looks like it has been spending time in a gym rather than a garden. Swamp rabbit fur is thick enough to function as a waterproof layer, keeping the skin dry during the regular swimming that defines the species' escape behavior.
Drag the handle left and right to compare Swamp Rabbit side by side with the species it gets mistaken for most.
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Accessibility
Accessibility
Swamp rabbits are nocturnal and secretive. During the day, they are invisible in their forms in dense BLH understory. At night, they emerge to forage, and a flashlight beam along a bayou bank or BLH forest edge may catch eyeshine or the brief image of a large, dark rabbit before it flushes.The most accessible non-visual sign of swamp rabbit presence is fecal pellets. Swamp rabbit pellets are larger than cottontail pellets and are deposited on logs, stumps, and elevated surfaces rather than on the ground — a behavior that may serve as territory marking.
A log in a BLH forest covered with large rabbit pellets indicates swamp rabbit presence. Pellet surveys are the standard monitoring method for the species across its range.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does Swamp Rabbits live in North Louisiana?
Yes. Swamp rabbits are the largest cottontails in North America, and the only rabbits in North Louisiana that will jump into a river to escape a dog. In North Louisiana, swamp rabbits inhabit the bottomland hardwood forests along the Ouachita, Red, Tensas, Boeuf, and Black river systems. Experienced rabbit hunters in North Louisiana know that a swamp rabbit that hits the water is a swamp rabbit that just escaped
How do you identify Swamp Rabbits?
Swamp rabbits weigh 4 to 6 pounds — roughly twice the size of an eastern cottontail. Males are slightly larger than females. Body length runs 16 to 22 inches. The fur is darker and coarser than a cottontail's, ranging from dark rusty brown to black on the head and back, with a white throat, white belly, and the standard cottontail white tail. A cinnamon-colored ring around each eye is a useful field mark. The hind legs and feet are orange or reddish-brown, in contrast to the cottontail's tan or whitish hind feet.Ears are proportionally smaller than a cottontail's — medium-sized rather than large — and the skull is bigger and heavier. The overall impression of a swamp rabbit compared to a cottontail is a darker, chunkier, more robust animal that looks like it has been spending time in a gym rather than a garden. Swamp rabbit fur is thick enough to function as a waterproof layer, keeping the skin dry during the regular swimming that defines the species' escape behavior.
What does Swamp Rabbits eat?
What They Eat
Swamp rabbits are herbivores that feed on grasses, sedges, reeds, cane, aquatic vegetation, and the woody browse available in BLH forest understory. Cane — the native switch cane (Arundinaria spp.) that once formed dense canebrakes across the floodplains of the South — is a historically important food source, and the common name "cane cutter" reflects the rabbit's association with this habitat.Feeding happens primarily at night. During the day, swamp rabbits rest in shallow depressions (forms) in tall grass, dense understory, or under logs and fallen trees.
A swamp rabbit in a form during daylight is motionless and nearly invisible, relying on camouflage and the dense vegetation of BLH forest to avoid detection. If a predator gets too close, the rabbit flushes and runs — fast, in a zigzag pattern, heading for water.
Is Swamp Rabbits dangerous to people?
No. This species is not dangerous to people when it is observed without handling or disturbance
