_Specimens examined_ (12).--2 mi. N, 5 mi. W Ludlow, 2; 10 mi. S, 4 mi.
W Ladner, 1; 7 mi. N, 2-1/2 mi. W Camp Crook, 3300 ft., 1; 5 mi. W
Buffalo, 1; 10 mi. S, 5 mi. W Reva, 7.
The desert cottontail is a common inhabitant of the uplands of Harding
County, especially where varied local relief and in some instances
brushy vegetation provide suitable cover. A female shot on May 26 in a
dense stand of pines in the North Cave Hills carried five embryos that
measured 75, another taken on July 4 was pregnant with six embryos that
measured 18, and two females collected on June 16 and another on June 24
carried seven embryos that measured 32, 40, and 45, respectively. Two
subadults collected in late June and two collected in early August were
nearly full grown. The testes of an adult male obtained on March 28
measured 50.
The male mentioned above was completely in winter pelage. Adults taken
on June 16, 23, and 24 had almost completed molt to summer pelage, but
each retained some evidence of active hair replacement, most often over
the shoulders; a pregnant female obtained on July 4 had only partially
completed the molt to summer pelage. An adult female in summer pelage
that was taken on August 4 was inexplicably molting on the sides and
over the shoulders.
A May-taken female was parasitized by fleas, _Cediopsylla inaequalis_
(Baker).
~Sylvilagus floridanus similis~ Nelson, 1907