Perhaps it just didn't make it to a hiding place. We had an elderly porcupine we could see grazing in the field. We could get quite close to it in the jeep so we suspected it was deaf. When the grandchildren came for weekly family dinner, they liked to take a walk around the field. They saw the porcupine dead in the field and also saw two younger ones. My husband went back later to put it in a more private place than the farmer's hayfield.

You might try calling your state fish and game. In NH there are concerns that the cottontail population is declining due to loss of habitat. Someone might want to do an autopsy.

Thanks, defrost49. I just came in from outside work and it's past 5 PM, so I will have to call tomorrow. It's odd that it is the second time (and I believe the same time of year).

This may or may not be relevant, but it's a decent story.

Several years ago, we had a litter of 3 groundhogs on our property. Since our groundhogs tend to be reasonably well behaved (at least since we fenced in the vegetable garden) we just watched them and thought they were cute. One day, we went out, and in the middle of the lawn was one of the babies. It was maybe half grown, so not exactly a small animal, but noticeably smaller than the mother. It was dead, but in an oddly flattened way. After giving the matter some thought, we came to the conclusion that is looked like it had been dropped from a great height. After giving the matter more thought, we realized this actually made sense. We have a lot of raptors around, mostly red tailed hawks, but a few golden eagles, ospreys, bald eagles, and other usual suspects. It was entirely possible that one of the red tailed hawks overestimated their hauling ability, or underestimated the size of the groundhog. They picked it up, tried to fly off with it, but ended up having to drop it. I can easily imagine something similar happening with rabbits.

BTW, even more years ago, we found a rabbit that had probably been hit by a car. When I found it, I was on my way somewhere and didn't have time to deal with it. I also thought if I put it off, my DH could come home from work and handle it. By the time I came home, more than half of it had disappeared, and by the time my DH came home, almost all of it was gone.

That's a scenario worth considering, mad_gallica. I'd think a hawk would return to fetch it or dine on it. There are tall trees and woods within a few feet. We have lots of coyotes and crows, turkey vultchers a d other carrion-snacking critters. It's probably been day only for a day or two.

What about this scenario: the cottontail ate some of the very alkaline cypress spurge (Euphorbia sp.) and its esophagus stomach and mouth got a lye-like chemical burn. But I would think a cottontail would pretty much be programmed to not try it or spit it out. It IS an introduced plant, I believe, so many the rabbit wasn't hardwired to stay clear of it.

Wild cottontails have a lifespan of only about 4 years, so I guess I find it not too surprising that we occasionally see dead critters. Most animals learn from their parent(s) what is edible, so I would be doubtful that it would be poisonous plants, particularly since the chemical that would injury its stomach would also hurt its mouth. Far more likely to my mind is being scared to death (cardiac) or age-related illnesses, or a preditor that was then interrupted, perhaps scared away by a person or car in the vicinity.

I hope this isn't too graphic, but if it had been dead for a day or two it would have smelled fairly awful in the current heat and lots of insects would have found it - you wouldn't have been able to tell if it were injured or not. Around here small critters like frogs or chipmunks have been totally stripped in at most 2 or 3 days by carion eaters, usually the tiny ones.

Thanks, Jane, NHBabs & others. Its eyes were open and cloudy, it was stiff (rigor) and only a couple of flies about. No odor. A bit of fecal matter near its rump. I don't think it had been dead very long. Maybe it just died of fright as Jane suggested. Maybe is saw "death weasel" and stroked out. Sad but we all know life can be short forany wild critters. I think I recently read that rabbits can have up to five litters yearly.

NHBabs, it's true, dead animals seem to vanish overnight. One afternoon I spotted carrion beetles on a small rodent carcass. Ugly things, but they have a job to do. Imagine if there were no little helpers like them and all deceased creatures just hung around.

Along the lines of NHBab's comment -- I happened to be looking down. There's much more going on that I never see or notice.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, everyone. I can put bunny's demise to rest now -- RIP, Harvey.

I had two dead rabbits in my yard last week. One was a youth, the other full grown. No marks, nothing. I'm making a guess: It had rained a LOT recently and there was a big bloom of very ugly mushrooms in my mulch bed. I've read that many mushrooms are toxic to rabbits (as they are to humans). I'm thinking maybe they ate the mushrooms and were poisoned.

Is there a possibility they got poisoned by a neighbor? I would call fish and game for advice. if they have nothing to say at least you removed the rabbits from being eaten by something else that might also het poisoned. Bury them deep.