Low riskEdible cooked
Eastern cottontail
Sylvilagus floridanus
The small wild meat of fencerows. Rusty nape, white powder-puff tail.
- Marks
- White cottontail; rusty nape
- Size
- 2–4 lb
- Habitat
- Brush, briar, garden edges, hayfields.
- Season
- Year-round. Several litters March–September.
- Frequency
- abundant
A true rabbit (altricial young in a fur-lined scrape), not a hare. Most active at dusk. Often sits tight until you almost step on it.
Uses
Hasenpfeffer, stew. Cook well — wild rabbits can carry tularemia. Wear gloves to clean; don’t eat an animal that looked sick.
If this is the one
Tularemia: gloves, cook past pink, burn or bury waste away from the garden.