find food. Snow tunnels are approximately the same height and width as burrows. They are quite extensive and extend from one sagebrush to another. Above ground movement during the winter months is restricted to these tunnel systems. Cover requirements Pygmy rabbits are restricted to areas with heavy shrub cover. Pygmy rabbits are seldom found in areas of sparse vegetative cover and seem to be reluctant to cross open space. In southeastern Idaho, woody cover and shrub height were significantly (P<0.01) greater on sites occupied by pygmy rabbits than on other sites in the same area. Plant communities Pygmy rabbits are found primarily in big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) and rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus spp.) dominated communities. Pygmy rabbits are also found in areas where greasewood (Sarcobatus spp.) is abundant. Some woody species found on sites inhabited by pygmy rabbits in southeastern Idaho include big sagebrush, antelope bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata), threetip sagebrush (A. tripartita), low rabbitbrush (C. viscidiflorus), gray horsebrush (Tetradymia canescens), and prickly phlox (Leptodactylon pungens). Grasses and forbs include thick spike wheatgrass (Elymus lanceolatus), plains reedgrass (Calamagrostis montanensis), sedges (Carex spp.), prairie junegrass (Koeleria macrantha), Sandberg bluegrass (Poa secunda), bluegrass (Poa spp.), needle-and-thread grass (Stipa comata), western yarrow (Achillea millefolium), rosy pussytoes (Antennaria microphylla), milkvetch (Astragalus spp.), arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata), buckwheat (Eriogonum spp.), tailcup lupine (Lupinus caudatus), and phlox (Phlox spp.). In the Upper Sonoran Desert pygmy rabbits occur in desert sagebrush associations dominated by big sagebrush and rabbitbrush with bitterbrush and sulphurflower (Eriogonum umbellatum var. stellatum). Food habits The primary food of pygmy rabbits is big sagebrush, which may comprise up to 99% of the food eaten in the winter. Grasses and forbs are also eaten from mid- to late summer. In Idaho, Gates and Eng found that shrubs contributed 85.2% (unweighted mean) of pygmy rabbit diets from July to December. Shrub use was lowest in August (73.1%) and highest in December (97.9%). Big sagebrush was the most important shrub in the July to December diet (54.2%), followed by rubber rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus, 25.8%) and winterfat (Krascheninnikovia lananta, 4.6%). Grasses comprised 10% of the July to December diet and were consumed mostly during July and August. Indian ricegrass (Oryzopsis hymenoides) and needlegrass (Stipa spp.) were the most important grasses consumed. Forbs contributed 4.9% of the July to December diet. In southeastern Idaho, Green and Flinders found that pygmy rabbits ate big sagebrush throughout the year but in lesser amounts in