by Carl Strang
A couple days ago I saw an example of a puzzle I posed a few weeks ago, and decided it is time to provide an answer. The cottontail rabbit typically uses the gallop as its walking gait, and places its front feet one before the other rather than side by side as most rodents do. However, there are circumstances in which the cottontail places its front feet side by side, and I asked readers to figure out or, preferably, observe what those circumstances are.
This photo is from Saturday, February 14, the morning after a fresh snow of an inch or so depth covered ground that had been free of snow for a few days.
This footprint gait variation occurs when there is ice under the snow, when snow is new after a period without snow cover, or at other times when the footing is uncertain. The rabbit locks its front feet together as it steps, so that the front legs combined provide a more stable plant that makes travel safer. The cue is that there is essentially no space between the front feet.