Virginia's most common rabbit, with gray to brown fur, white on the belly and the underside of the short fluffy tail, hence its name. The ears are moderately long, and the eyes are big. Legs are long and it moves with a hopping gait. They are most active at night, but may be seen at any time of the day. They eat green plants, roots, and fruits in the summer and twigs and bark in the winter. In turn they are eaten by many predators. They have excellent hearing, which helps them avoid predators. They are said to be rarely seen on windy days because the wind interferes with their hearing.

A beloved native of most of the eastern United States, frequenting areas with a mixture of open spaces and dense brush. Common in Wildwood.

New England cottontails and Appalachian cottontails are very similar, and can be told from the eastern cottontail only by testing the DNA or measuring the shape of the skull. However, New England cottontails are not found south of New York, and Appalachian cottontails prefer deep woods in the high mountains of the Appalachians. Neither would be expected in Wildwood.