Seems counterintuitive at first that rabbits should choose a roundabout as a place to live, but if you think about it, they're less likely to be disturbed by people, dogs etc. there than somewhere else. I don't know how far rabbits move away from their burrow, but as long as they don't have to do it to get food or to evade predators, I guess they prefer to stick pretty close to it, and the road probably isn't that inviting, which explains why they haven't been (all) run over by cars yet...
Similarly, in Finland there are some black-headed gull colonies that have chosen to live and nest in rail yards. The birds don’t seem to mind the freight trains passing by – or even literally over their heads – but apparently their predators and egg thieves are less comfortable with big noisy human things moving around.
I was driving near the border of Northern New Mexico and Texas recently on a state highway. I kept noticing groundhogs everywhere. Almost all the land is farmland out there. So I imagine it is plowed every year or so. The only strip of land is undisturbed is the right of way between the edge of the road & the fence. So groundhog colonies are basically all along the side of the road.
Edit: as pointed out below it's actually "Cynomys ludovicianus" or the Black-tailed prairie dog.
In that part of the country they would likely have been prairie dogs. And yes, they live sparsely all throughout the desert, but cluster more densely on the edges of cultivated land where there is more food.
Yes, I think the scientific name is Cynomys ludovicianus. Completely unafraid of vehicles as well, but smart enough to stay off the actual road surface.
Rabbits generally stick close to home but can range around 200m/660ft from their burrow (doing the math of 10 acres -> distance from center, ish).[1]
There's probably a lot to like about the roundabout. It's highly likely that at dawn and dusk they cross the road; rabbits around here have no problems doing that.
