Why You Should Snap a Photo of a Bunny Rabbit When You See One in New Hampshire

There's a statewide effort underway in New Hampshire that includes you and your phone taking photos of rabbits, because we have an endangered species on our hands. This includes those winter rabbits called Snowshoe Hares, according to New Hampshire Rabbit Reports, as well as spring, summer, and fall bunnies like Eastern Cottontails and New England Cottontails.

With all of us snapping photos with our phones everywhere we go, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department and New Hampshire Rabbit Reports is asking all of us to help out with the University of New Hampshire's Cooperative Extension Rabbit Reporting Program.

UNH Wildlife Outreach Program Manager Haley Andreozzi helps run the rabbit reporting program, and told NHPR that the New England Cottontail is endangered in New Hampshire, with fewer than 100 left.

Fewer than 100?  WOW, doesn't it feel like we're always spotting Peter Cottontail hopping around? But in reality, they're probably not the cuties with the puffy, white, cotton ball-looking tails, and that's what we're on the lookout for.  But all photos of all rabbits help.

Haley says we can help with this Rabbit Reporting Program by snapping photos and sending them to help all of us learn about conservation efforts and habitat requirements for those rabbits.

This program isn't new, having first commenced in 2017. However, the end of winter and beginning of spring is reminder time, as rabbits appear more and more.

The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department says it's hoping to do a strategic sampling for Eastern Cottontail rabbits to get a better picture of their population, and each sighting helps determine where those surveys might take place.