The Appalachian cottontail lives on steep topography in high elevations in Western North Carolina and is rarely seen.

Now, the NC Wildlife Resources Commission has launched a study to determine impacts to the species that may pose a threat to its survival.

Researchers will conduct scat surveys (animal waste) to learn where the species exists in the North Carolina mountains and where it coexists with Eastern cottontails. Eastern cottontails may impact Appalachian cottontails through direct competition, hybridization, and disease transmission.

The project is enhanced through public support. “With much of North Carolina’s land in private ownership, we are encouraged by the engagement of several private landowners in the surveys as well as their concern for the species,” said NCWRC Wildlife Management Division Assistant Chief Sara Schweizer.

Those who visit N.C.’s high western elevations may want to keep a keen eye along the grassy roadsides and the edges of woodland openings for a chance to spot the rare Appalachian cottontail.