Hi folks,

In my post last Sunday about not being able to find the clay-colored
sparrow in the 'Lacey' clear-cut north of the Olympia cheese plant, I
stated that I'd seen a brush rabbit (Sylvilagus bachmani).

The rabbit I'd seen was small with plain greyish-brown pelage, and I
presumed that it was the same rabbit species I'd seen at my folks'
place (south of Salem, OR) the previous weekend. Not so.....

I checked all my mammalogy texts & references, as well as having Ian
Paulsen note that:

"According to Terrestrial Mammals of WA State:location Data and
predicted distributions(1997) there are NO records of Brush Rabbit
for WA. I guess they can't swim across the Columbia River."

Apparently, the rabbits here are *all* the introduced Eastern Cottontail
(Sylvilagus floridanus). The eastern bunnies always seemed to me to
have a lot of rusty/rufous in the fur, and the one I saw Sunday was
plain gray-brown. (Unless it was a bitty-bunny of a hare?? The
ears seemed too short... Are the snowshoe hares at sea level in So
Puget Sound?) The one I saw didn't impress me as a hare, but rather as a cottontail.

Is there a good reference for Washington State mammals? Thanks to all who pointed out my mis-I.D.

Jon ('sbeen 24 years since the Mammalogy class) Anderson
Olympia, Washington
festuca at olywa.net