4 
Vo l. 10, No. 8 
Page 3 
The animals were fitted with cardboard collars, 10 inches in diameter, 
which prohibited reingestion of soft pellets. Hard and soft pellets were 
collected from under the cages three times each day, beginning on the day after 
the collars had been fitted. Soft pellets were identified by their shape and 
their glutinous, textureless appearance. All pellets were dried at 65 C and 
weighed. Production of soft pellets was expressed as a percent of the total 
weight of both hard and soft pellets. 
Averages of production of soft food pellets by six cottontails during 
March and June tests were 29-3 and 31-5 percent of total feces, respectively. 
Since these averages were not significantly different, data for the two tests 
were combined and the average production of food pellets for 12 determinations 
was 30.4 percent, with confidence limits between 26.2 and 34.6 percent (£<£0.05). 
In two similar studies with domestic rabbits ( Oryctolagus cuniculus ), it has 
been reported that 26.4 percent and 26.8 percent, respectively, of the total 
pellets were food pellets. These averages are within the confidence limits 
mentioned above for cottontails. 
P 
