Interesting facts about the pygmy rabbit:
- In summer, the fur on the pygmy rabbit's back is brown, while in winter the color fades to gray.
- If the pygmy rabbit detects a predator it makes a whistling sound to warn its neighbors of danger.
- When pygmy rabbits dig burrows they often create a whole system of tunnels for a variety of purposes, such as finding food, hiding and shelter.
- Pygmy rabbits do not often jump like most rabbits, instead they scamper close to the ground.
- Unlike most rabbits, the pygmy rabbit has the unusual habit of climbing far into a bush before starting to eat.
- By 2002 only 16 rabbits remained in Washington and by the following year, none remained in the wild.
- Sagebrush makes up 99% of their diet in winter, but only 30-40% of their diet in summer.
- The Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit was only federally acknowledged as an endangered species in 2003.
- Despite the fact that most rabbits breed rather quickly, the pygmy rabbit's long and tedious reproduction process in the wild makes it extremely vulnerable while reproducing and months after.
- The Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit's scientific name is Brachylagus idahoensis.