Snowshoe-rabhit 049 



Rabbits; the lower part of the ear in each was clogged witli a 

 mass of ticks; none, however, had ventured into the wax-pro- 

 tected inner vestibule. As soon as their host was dead and 

 cold, these ticks loosed their hold and scrambled in all direc- 

 tions, seeking elsewhere for a renewal of comfort. On October 

 15 I received two Snowshoes from Maine, and, on the 22d, two 

 more; all had the ears beaded with scores of blue-ticks. 



Plentiful as they are now, I am inclined to think the ticks 

 have been worse, as attested by the following paragraph from 

 Henry's "Journal" :^^ 



"Ever since April 25 [1801] we have been plagued with 

 wood-ticks [a species of /xo^^j- E. Coues], and now that we 

 are daily in the woods and grass, our clothes swarm with those 

 troublesome and dangerous insects, which often get into the ear 

 and cause inflammation. When they have time to get firm 

 hold, they cannot be removed without pulling the body from the 

 head, which remains in the skin, and causes an itching which 

 may last for several months. The bellies of our horses and 

 dogs are covered with them; they adhere to the flesh until they 

 have sucked themselves full of blood and are swelled nearly to 

 the size of a musket ball, when they fall off of themselves. 

 Their natural size is about that of a grain of barley, and in 

 shape they are perfectly flat, with a tough hard skin of chestnut 

 colour. They continue to the end of July, when they suddenly 

 disappear." 



A full list of its enemies would give first place to the plagues enemies 

 already described, next would be a catalogue of all the pre- 

 dacious birds, beasts, fish, and reptiles in the country. Any- 

 thing can kill a Hare that can catch it. Its only safety is in 

 its speed among the tangled copses, a speed which, thanks to 

 its snowshoes, is not diminished in the season of stress. In the 

 open this is of high order, not enough, perhaps, to save it from a 

 Fox; but sufficient, as I have several times seen, to put Wabasso 

 beyond reach of an ordinary collie dog. But in the under- 

 growth it is absolutely safe from open attack of nearly all. 



"Henry's Journal, 1 799-1814, pub. 1897, p. 180. 



