Changes in climate during the occupation of Five Finger Ridge appear to have resulted in changes in the kinds of animals hunted by the residents.

Two species of cottontail presently occur in central Utah, but occupy different ecological zones. Nuttall’s or mountain cottontail (Sylvilagus nuttallii) generally occupies wooded or brushy areas in the Upper Sonoran lifezone at elevations of 1372 m and 3200 m above sea level. Desert cottontail (S. audubonii) is present in dense, brushy areas of desertscrub and plains-desert grasslands of the Lower Sonoran lifezone at elevations from sea level to 1829 m. Incidentally, Five Finger Ridge is at the approximate boundary of the two species (1814-1829 m).

It turns out that the residents were bringing home two different species of cottontail to the site, but the number of desert cottontails steadily decrease during the occupation of the site.

This suggests that the low elevation threshold of mountain cottontails, and the high elevation threshold of desert cottontails, shifted downwards while the Five Finger Ridge was occupied. This change in turn likely reflects a shift in summer and winter temperatures that impacted the distributions of preferred vegetation habitats.

At the same time that this change occurs, jackrabbits (Lepus sp.) decreases in abundance compared to cottontail rabbits as a whole.

Jackrabbits prefer open landscapes with less dense vegetation compared to cottontail rabbits. Archaeologists have used this fact to evaluate environmental change, often in relation to increased landscape manipulation by horticulturalists. Farming opens of the vegetation environment, thus increasing the number of cottontail rabbits. The decreased numbers of jackrabbits to cottontails at Five Finger Ridge indicates the presence of more open environments, which may have resulted from either increased farming or changing climates. the fact that the change occurs as the same time that Nuttall’s cottontail becomes more common suggests that climate was responsible.