While related to cottontail rabbits, marsh rabbits are generally overshadowed by their more famous cousins.

They are smaller. They are darker. Instead of the much celebrated and instantly recognizable cotton ball tail, thy have a small grey-brown tail. They often walk instead of hopping. In so many ways, they are less stereotypically “rabbity” than the ones we see on tv, in fiction, and everywhere else.

But marsh rabbits do one thing that cottontail rabbits don’t.

They swim.

Technically all rabbits can swim, but most of the rabbits you’ve met have thick coats that absorb water and weigh them down. They also have trouble regulating their body temperature.

But marsh rabbits are built for the beach and make it part of their lifestyle.

So they can dive into water to escape predators.

They can go places other rabbits don’t.

And they maintain a different type of athleticism from other rabbits.

They have a world of emergency and peacetime options.

This does, however, mean that they must worry about whatever is in the water. Water Moccasins and alligators can find them there.

The marsh rabbit’s life contains unique benefits, and unique dangers.

And so do ours.

Sometimes we long for a marquee life and don’t realize the gifts we have. We want more recognition. We want more stuff. We want to be ten years further on our plans than we are, in part because we think our peers, our critics, and certainly our heroes are already there. Meanwhile, our talents are sitting unused. And the opportunities we have to make a unique impact on the world, remain unexplored. As Dwayne Johnson says to two aspiring wrestlers in the movie Fighting with My Family, don’t worry about being the next me. Be the first you.

Sometimes we try to be someone else for a day and get in trouble. We get so tired of looking at people who fly higher and get more attention than we do, that we try to just live the way they live or spend the way they spend. And we end up broke or in trouble in a matter of days. Starting a lift with 500lbs on the bar because you saw someone do it on TikTok is a great way to get killed. Starting where you are and adding daily is a great way to get stronger.

Sometimes we get too comfortable with our gifts and get in trouble. We can use our survival skills in emergencies. Or we can flirt with disaster knowing we will survive. Talent should not be an excuse for bad choices. The world is full of skilled manipulators who wreak havoc in every relationship they have, and don’t change because there’s always someone else who will accept their abuse - until there isn’t. Or until they destroy something of sufficient value that they realize they need to change. Or until they hit rock bottom, and some people never do. There are plenty of gifted criminals who grew up breaking rules without consequences, but eventually found them. And the curse of that gift is often that when we finally get caught, our impulse, instead of changing our ways, is just to refine our craft.

There is tremendous value in knowing ourselves and knowing the terrain we occupy.

If you’re a jumper, jump.

If you’re a swimmer, swim.

If you’re a house rabbit, be a house rabbit.

And love the fur God gave you.

Works Cited

Carter, Lou. “Do Pet Rabbits like to Swim?” Rabbit Care Tips, 18 Jan. 2021, https://www.rabbitcaretips.com....

Cosgrove, Nicole. “Can Rabbits Swim? Is It Safe, and Do They like It?” Pet Keen, 18 July 2022, https://petkeen.com/can-rabbit....

“Land Mammals - Marsh Rabbit.” Florida Fish And Wildlife Conservation Commission, https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabi....

“Marsh Rabbit.” Marsh Rabbit - Facts, Diet, Habitat & Pictures on Animalia.bio, https://animalia.bio/marsh-rab....