“Winter Crossing ~ Eastern Cottontail Rabbit,” is an original acrylic painting copyright Susan A. Walton; it won best in class for Small Game at a Quail Unlimited sponsored show in Illinois.

An eastern cottontail crosses a trail of rabbit tracks in new-fallen snow.

One can only wonder if the rabbit in this scene has doubled over on its own tracks or if it has encountered the tracks of another.

I had a few things in mind when I was painting this : when pursued, a cottontail tends to run in tight circles and arcs, sooner or later crossing its own tracks, confusing its trail, and hopefully perplexing any interested predator.

I have enjoyed seeing rabbits play- or at least seem to play- a game of chicken, with one rabbit racing headlong at another while the other waits until the very last second to leap vertically over the oncoming furry cannonball. But these games of “crossing the T,” as fun as they seem to be, are actually a very serious way of practicing important escape and evasion skills.

Cottontail rabbits, unlike their European relatives from whom we get domesticated rabbits, are not very social; except for momentary encounters, they lead solitary and dangerous lives, being the object of almost every hungry predator in their world. In spite of this, they still take it all in stride and do not anxiously allow their troubles to fence them in or to deny them a joyful moment to kick up their heels when they do happen to encounter another of their kind.

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