Happy Easter Bunny Day 2023!

Happy Easter Bunny Day 2023!

This is a selection and celebration of bunnies, rabbits and hares! A gallery of rabbits who have crossed my path.

I have many portraits of rabbits because when I do come across them they either flee or freeze. Freezing makes for easy photography. If you freeze along with them and stay patiently still, they will eventually relax since, in their minds, you have turned into a tree or some other non-threatening object.

My favorite images are the ones with sunlight behind them shining through their thin ears, glowing peachy pink.

I regularly see three species of rabbit here in California: the Brush Rabbit, the Desert Cottontail and the Black-tailed Jackrabbit.

The Brush Rabbit (Sylvilagus bachmani) is the smallest with the shortest ears and legs. It’s found in the Pacific Coast states west of the mountains from the Columbia River through the tip of Baja California. They like living in the tangled mats of shrubbery and I often see them near the beach.

The Desert Cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii), is also known as Audubon’s cottontail. It is found throughout the Rocky Mountain states and Texas and then west to the coast. It is a little bigger than the brush rabbit with larger ears and looks similar to the Eastern Cottontail.

The Black-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus californicus) is actually not a rabbit but a closely related hare. They can be surprising large with long, athletic legs and enormous ears. They are found all over the West and are my favorite to watch and photograph.

Their ranges overlap. Where I am staying now in the Bay area I see brush rabbits and jackrabbits. When I visit Mercey Hot Spring, there are desert cottontails and jackrabbits. Some places have all three.

Who can resist a bunny?

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