Florida Rabbits and Hares Rabbits are jumping mammals with relatively large hind legs, long ears, and short tails. Like many rodents, rabbits have a pair of long, chisel-like upper incisors. They also have a second pair of incisors behind the first set.
Rabbits eat food plants including elms, grapes, hawthorns, blue phlox, and ash. There are three different types of rabbits in Florida: 1. The black tailed jackrabbit; 2. The eastern cottontail; 3. The marsh rabbit.
Courtesy photo/Phil Myers, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan. At left is Lepus californicus, more commonly known as the black-tailed jackrabbitt.
The black-tailed jackrabbit, Lepus californicus, is a rabbit that is native to the Southwest United States and Mexico. However, they can also be found in grassy open areas of Miami – especially around Miami International Airport.
During the 1930s and 1940s, the black-tailed jackrabbit was released repeatedly to train greyhounds. A group of black tailed jackrabbits were released near the Tampa Dog Track in the 1960s, but a population never became to be.
Actually, the black-tailed jackrabbit is a hare. Most people confuse a hares and rabbits, which are very different in several ways. Generally, hares are larger, have longer hind legs, and have longer ears. Hares are born with a full coat of fur and their eyes open. Their mothers drop them on the bare ground or in a small depression in the ground.
The black-tailed jackrabbit is grayish brown with whitish underside and a white tail. It is a foot-and-a-half to two-feet long and has extremely long ears. It is a nocturnal animal feeding on herbs and grasses. It can transmit tularemia.
The young of rabbits are called bunnies and are born hairless as well as blind. The mother rabbit lines the nest with a base of grass, bark and soft stems. Over this she puts a layer of hair that she plucks from her own body. When she leaves the nest, she covers the bunnies with more dead plants and more hair, which keeps them warm and hidden from predators.
Rabbits are often found together contrasted to the hare, which lives a life of solitude except when mating.
Rabbits fight within a group to become the dominant male, who will mate with most of the females in the area. There is no fighting among hares.
Courtesy photo. At left is Sylvilagus floridanus, more commonly known as the Eastern cottontail rabbitt.
The Eastern Cottontail Rabbit, Sylvilagus floridanus, is found all over Florida except in the Keys, dense forests and coastal marshes. It is grayish brown with a brown throat and white underside.
It varies in length from 12-20 inches. It is primarily nocturnal and during the day stays in shallow depressions in dense clumps of grass. It feeds upon legume leaves, grasses, and broad-leafed weeds. The Eastern Cottontail breed year–round.
They have a gestation period of 28 days and give birth to a litter of from 1-8 bunnies. Their nests are grass- and fur-lined depression in the ground.
When the mother leaves the nest to forage, she covers the litter with more grass and fur. At 3 to 4 weeks of age, the young leave the nest. Female Eastern Cottontails can breed again immediately following giving birth. Often, as soon as the young leave, another litter is born. Most females have five to six litters per year. Their main predators are any carnivore.
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Courtesy photo/Ginger Allen, Florida Master Naturalist Program. At left is Sylvilagus palustris, more commonly known as the Eastern cottontail rabbitt.
The Marsh rabbit, Sylvilagus palustris, inhabits freshwater and brackish marshes statewide. It is reddish brown with a gray underside and tail. It is only 16-18 inches long. It is semi-aquatic and is primarily nocturnal. The Marsh Rabbit makes runways through dense vegetation.
They mainly forage on emergent aquatic and wetland plants, including grasses, maidencane, sedge, broad-leafed herbs, and weeds. It can breed year round but most often from December to June. Their litters contain from one to six bunnies, which remain with the mother for four weeks. The mother can breed right after birth.
Like the other rabbits, predators include most carnivores.
Courtesy photo.At left is sylvilagis palustris hefneri, more commonly known as the playboy bunny.
There is also a Lower Keys Marsh rabbit, sylvilagus palustris hefneri, is found in the Keys from Big Pine Key to Boca Chica. It is known as the “playboy bunny” because its research was financed by the Playboy Foundation.
This bunny is brownish with a gray underside. It is 14-16 inches long.
Its predators are dogs and cats. The Lower Keys marsh Rabbit is a protected species.
Large fish kills due to freezing temeratures
By now everyone has heard of the massive fish kills in Volusia County as a result of the nearly two week long period of nightly freezing temperatures earlier this month.
Other inshore counties are reporting massive tilapia kills while those counties along the coasts are reporting major kills of snook, tarpon and bonefish. It could take more than a decade to reestablish our snook fishery. As a result of this damage to our fishery, the FWC (Florida Wildlife Commission) has banned all tarpon, snook and bonefish fishing until April.
The FWC issued an executive order on Jan.15, that temporarily extends the closed harvest season for snook statewide through the end of August and established a temporary statewide closed bonefish and tarpon seasons through March 31.
Catch and release is allowed, but possession is not. The snook season could be reopened earlier or closed longer after an assessment is made of the damage to the stock. Speaking of dying snook, I advised you that it was against the law to pick up the snook and place them in your boat or bucket. Two young men did not follow my advice and were picking up dying snook out of the water in the Tomoka area and placing in their cooler and an FWC officer came upon them. They were arrested and put in jail and are awaiting trial.
Fishing report
In the surf, black drum, sheepshead, whiting and bluefish have been producing great action for anglers. Pompano and flounder have been on the slow side though.
The surf temperature has been down to the mid 50s. Hopefully, the temperature will start getting back up into the 60s in the near future.
In the Tomoka area, the redfish action has been excellent with several oversized redfish released. They are hitting artificial baits and mullet. In the haulover area, there were reports of many juvenile goliath grouper. The redfish are schooling there and the water temperature is in the low sixties.
Offshore, the King Mackerel bite is still good. Large wahoo and blackfin tuna are hitting trolling baits on the roll down. On the bottom anglers have been tearing up the triggerfish and black sea bass.
Update on manatee report
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announced its 12-month finding on a petition to revise critical habitat for the Florida manatee under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. After a thorough review of all available scientific and commercial information, the agency found that revisions to critical habitat for the Florida manatee were warranted.
However, sufficient funds were not available due to higher priority actions such as court-ordered listing-related actions and judicially approved settlement agreements. The wildlife service intends to initiate rulemaking when they complete the higher priorities and have the necessary resources to do so.
Coast Guard adjusting fines and penalties
The U.S. Coast Guard is adjusting fines and mother civil monetary penalties to reflect the impact of inflation. In the accordance with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, and as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996. adjustments are now due within 30 days after Dec. 23, 2009.
Comments and material received from the public, as well, as by documents mentioned in this preamble as being available in the docket, are part of the docket USCG-2009-0891 and are available for inspection or copying at the Docket Management Facility (M-30), U.S. Department of Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington , D.C. 20590 between 0900H and 1700H, Monday through Friday, except for Federal holidays.
You may also find this docket on the internet by going to http://www.regulations.gov, inserting USCG-2009-0891 in the ``Keyword'' box, and then clicking ``Search.'' If you have questions on this rule call or e-mail Heather Young, CG-5232, Coast Guard; telephone 1-202-372-1022, e-mail Heather.I.young@uscg.mil.If you have questions viewing the docket, call Renee V. Wright, program manager, Docket Operations, at 1-202-372-1022. .Written comments must be received by Feb. 25. Submit all questions via federalerulingportal at http://www.regulations.gov.
Capt. Budd's Post Script
It has been written that “All but beauty will pass- beauty will never die. No, not even when the earth and sun have died will beauty perish. It will live on in the stars.”
So whether you charter, ride a head boat, run your own vessel, stay in the river, surf, or fish from shore or a bridge, there are fish to be caught. Fishing is not a matter of life and death, it is so much more important than that. May all my readers at NSBNEWS.net have a beautiful day.
Tight lines, Capt. Budd