Bunny (Eastern Cottontail Rabbit) and Euonymus in Mulch

In Albums: bunnies

Jul 3rd, 2004, by Alex Zorach

This photo shows a wild bunny (an Eastern cottontail rabbit, to be specific) in a bed of mulch, near a sidewalk. The plant in much of the picture is euonymus. I'm not an expert at euonymus identification, but this is an evergreen variety that has a mostly creeping habit, and sometimes climbs. I suspect it is Euonymus fortunei, also known as creeping euonymus or fortune's spindle. This plant, although relatively slow growing, has a way of overtaking areas and choking out other vegetation, leading it to be considered invasive in areas that it is not native to.

This type of euonymus, like most broadleaf evergreens, has very tough leaves, and I have never seen a rabbit eating it, so presumably, the rabbit was either just hanging out here, or was eating other plants in the bed. Note the oak seedling in the upper right of this picture.