The desert cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii) rabbit, also known as Audubon's cottontail, are named after their tail, which is shaped like a cottony ball. The desert portion of their common name arises from their distribution across the arid lands of the American Southwest and Plains states. Light coloured, tan to gray, with a yellowish tinge, the underside of the body is whitish. When alarmed, a cottontail can run up to twenty miles per hour in a zigzag pattern to escape predators.
