Rural School Leaflet 



"73 



Rabbits have two long gnawing teeth in the front of each jaw. The 

 remaining teeth are broad grinders in the back of the mouth. All rodents 

 except the rabbit have no teeth between the gnawing teeth and the grind- 

 ing teeth, but rabbits htve a small pair of teeth arranged one on each 

 side of the upper long ones. These are left-overs from rabbit ances- 

 tors which evidently had four gnawing teeth on each jaw. It is with 

 the front gnawing teeth that the rabbit hurts young trees by girdling 

 them in winter when driven by starvation to feed on the bark. The 

 cleft in the upper lip leaves the gnawing teeth free. 



The varieties of rabbits and hares found under domestication are: 

 Belgian Hare, fawn to red-brown in color, medium size, long and grace- 

 ful; bred for the market. Common rabbit, which may be white (albino), 

 black, maltese, or with broken colors. Angora, white or broken-colored; 

 a small to medium breed, with short ears and silky hair; a purely fancy 

 breed. Lop-eared, fawn to brown in color; very large ears, which droop; 

 a fancy breed; very tender, requiring artificial heat in winter. Hi- 

 malayan, a small to medium breed; white, with black ears, nose, and feet; 

 short hair; alert and active; a very fancy breed. Flemish Giant, very 

 large, weighing fourteen to eighteen pounds; fawn to brown in color; 

 seldom raised. 



VIRGINIA DEER 



A. H. Wright 



Virginia deer are about six feet in length and stand three feet high. 

 Their general color in summer is bright rufous chestnut, with a dark 

 band on the chin and throat; the belly, the underside of the legs, and 

 the underside of the tail are white. The winter covering is coarse and 

 is tinged with gray, or may be very bluish in early fall. The coat is shed 

 twice a year, in June and September. The change is gradual and does 

 not affect all the parts at once. The antlers, possessed only by the buck, 

 are about 2 1 inches in length and \\ inches in circumference at the base. 

 They curve outward and upward, the tips turning in toward each other. 

 A short, upright spike is given off near the base, beyond which the beam 

 develops two upright branches, making three nearly equal prongs. In 

 battle the animals approach with bowed heads and the tines meet, shield- 

 ing each animal from the points of the other. Sometimes the antlers 

 interlock so that the animals cannot separate and as a result may starve. 

 The growth of an antler is very rapid. Starting as a mere button-like 

 growth in the middle of May, it attains its full size by September. It is 

 covered with " velvet," which carries a blood supply until the buck is 

 full grown, when he rubs the velvet off by scraping his horns on bushes 

 and rock ledges. 

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