Vol. 14, No. 6 
Page 4 
6. Rabbit Management G. B. Rose 
Stomach contents of wild cottontail rabbits, collected in the evening 
when the rabbits were feeding, were obtained over a period of several 
months in an effort to determine whether there are seasonal changes in the 
quality of the food ingested, in the time from late winter through late 
spring. Energy content and percentage of protein were considered to 
represent "quality." Changes in quality of food ingested might suggest 
changes in food availability. For example, a decrease in quality of the 
food taken by the animals might indicate a decrease in the availability 
of food of high quality. 
Stomach contents from eight adult cottontail rabbits, which had been 
collected between 9 PM and midnight from February through June 1971, were 
analyzed for energy content by combustion of dried samples in a Parr 
adiabatic bomb calorimeter. Samples were also analyzed for percentage 
of nitrogen by the Kjehldahl method; and percentages of crude protein 
were estimated by multiplying the percentage of nitrogen by a factor of 
6.25. 
Caloric values ranged from 3*886 kilogram calories per gram dry weight 
to 4.454 kcal/g, and averaged 4.170 kcal/g. There appeared to be no 
seasonal trend in the caloric value of the material in the stomachs for 
the period from February through June. Similarly, percentages of crude 
protein, which ranged from 13*6 percent to 29.6 percent and averaged 21.4 
percent, also exhibited no seasonal trend. Thus, these data show no 
seasonal change from late winter through late spring in the quality of 
the food ingested by wild cottontails. 
