Desert Cottontails (Sylvilagus audubonii) are the common "cottontail bunnies" seen in the deserts around Las Vegas. The head and body are about 12-inches long, and the ears are about 4-inches long. The eye is large and black, and the tail is short and fluffy white. The body color is 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 deserts: Desert 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 Mountain Cottontail, but it occurs at higher elevations than Desert Cottontails.

Desert Cottontails can be found in the desert areas around Las Vegas in the Lower Sonoran (Creosote-Bursage Flats) and Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland) Life Zones. Look for Desert Cottontails at Lake Mead, Red Rock Canyon, the Desert National Wildlife Range, Mojave National Preserve, and other lower-elevation areas.

The Desert Tortoise Enclosure behind the Visitor Center at Red Rock Canyon NCA is a good place to see fairly tame Desert Cottontails.