Mountain Cottontails (Sylvilagus nuttalli) are the common "cottontail bunnies" seen in the mountains around Las Vegas. The head and body are about 12-inches long, and the ears are about 2-inches long. The eye is large and black, and the tail is short and fluffy white. The body color is pale grayish mottled with black and white, and the nape (back of the neck) is rusty red.

Around Las Vegas, there are two species of rabbits in the mountains: Mountain Cottontails and Black-tailed Jackrabbits. Cottontails are much smaller and have much shorter ears than Jackrabbits, and cottontails have a cottony-white tail. Jackrabbits are larger, have much longer ears, and have a black tail. There is another species of cottontail too, the Desert Cottontail, but it occurs at lower elevations than Mountain Cottontails.

Mountain Cottontails can be found in mountainous areas around Las Vegas in the Upper Sonoran (Pinyon-Juniper Woodland) and Transition (Yellow Pine Forest) Life Zones. Around Las Vegas, look for Mountain Cottontail in the Spring Mountain Range (Mt. Charleston).