Where do adult cotton tail rabbits go?

Question

This year In St. Louis, Missouri, USA, there has been a constant increase (new bunnies almost every week) in population of rabbits. BUT, the adults dissappear. I know rabbits can breed at 2? monts old, but where do the adults go?

I have attempted research on line, and to get books on rabbit and hare, but all I've found only answer biology areas.

Answer 1

You tend to see the adults more often when they are breeding and nesting.  This is also the time of greatest mortality due to predation.  Adults and young get set upon by lots of predators.  Unfortunately in cities there are lots of them.  Dogs and cats and people and cars included.  Typically a rabbit population has significant ups and downs in numbers.

Normally cotton-tailed rabbits found in urban areas tend to be nocturnal or active only during brief periods at dawn and dusk.  They are still present but just have a good place to hide.

Answer 2

Dogs, cats, coyotes, hawks, owls, weasels, foxes, snakes...

There are almost as many things that eat rabbits as there are that eat mice.

Then there are various plagues they get like haemoragic plague, tularemia, and many more that I can't spell or pronounce.

They also get parasites like bot flies and so on.

Quite a few are killed on the roads.

I guess the ones that survive all that just die of old age