Lower+Keys+Marsh+Rabbit

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By Josh W.

The Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit is a member of the mammal class. It has fur that is reddish to blackish-brown. The ears are the only distinction between the Eastern Cottontail. They are shorter. The Marsh Rabbit's habitat is pretty interesting, too. It likes to live near brackish waters like swamps, marshes and bottomlands. The Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit's diet includes cane, cattail, rushes, and leaves and twigs of woody plants. The Marsh Rabbit is also nocturnal, which means it hunts at night. The size of a Marsh Rabbit is pretty big. It ranges from fifteen to seventeen inches long. The mating season lasts all year for the Marsh Rabbit. The gestation period is thirty to thirty-seven days and three to five young are born. The main predators of the Marsh Rabbit are hawks, owls, small carnivores, and the American Alligator. The Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit was enlisted as endangered in 1990, which was six years after James Lazell discovered a difference between the Upper Keys Marsh Rabbit and the Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit. He named it, Sylvilagis Palustris Hefneri, in honor of Hugh Hefner whose corporation sponsored Lazell's work. The Marsh Rabbit is endangered because of habitat loss due to expanding cities in the Florida Keys and when homeowners leave their pet, like cats or dogs, which go with their natural instinct and eat the rabbits. The Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit lives in south Florida Keys. To save the Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit we can stop expanding so fast and keeps our pets fenced in.