A Weight-Length Relationship for Evaluating Physical Condition of Cottontails
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Abstract
Cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus) were weighed and their lengths, including extended hind legs, were measured during the months of May through November. Analysis of the relationship between 499 weights and lengths provided a formula for computing an to physical condition. This permits comparisons among the weights of rabbits from different lengthand age-classes. Data presented to demonstrate the usefulness of the illustrate (1) month-to-month changes in the physical of cottontails during November through March and (2) that resident rabbits on a study area were in better physical than were rabbits which had recently immigrated. This paper describes a method, using measurements of body weight and length, for evaluating the physical conditions of cottontail rabbits without sacrificing the animals for autopsy. Use of this method to compare populations of cottontails is also described. The term index to physical condition is used here to describe a measure of the slenderness or heaviness of an animal. Thus physical-condition indices can be affected by environmental stresses such as severe weather or lack of food and also by normal processes such as the daily rhythm of feeding or physiological responses to changes of season. The editorial suggestions of Dr. Glen C. Sanderson, Mrs. Helen C. Schultz, and William R. Edwards, and the field assistance of Roger J. Siglin, are gratefully acknowledged.
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