RANGE 



660 Life-histories of Northern Animals 



EN- Although called Prairie-hare, I have seen this species in 



MENT the pine forests of California and high up among the Rocky 

 Mountains of Wyoming and Montana, as well as on the sage 

 deserts. It is indeed less strictly a 'prairie' Hare than many 

 of its relatives, and I note with interest that in some parts of 

 Manitoba it is called * Mountain-hare.' The prairie with 

 scattering low cover is, nevertheless, its favourite home, and it 

 shows also a remarkable partiality for the ploughed parts. In 

 such places it is very much at home, though most running 

 animals find them a disadvantage. Possibly we may find 

 in this one explanation of the Hare's spreading with the 

 spread of cultivation. An advantage connected with this 

 possibly is that the ploughing of the ground destroys the 

 germs of many diseases that might otherwise make havoc in 

 their numbers. 



HOME- The home-range of the individual Hare is probably not 



more than 2 miles across, may even be smaller. It is well 

 known that when pursued this animal rarely runs more than a 

 mile from a central point, but circles around that; also that a 

 Hare once discovered may usually be found thereafter within 

 a few hundred yards of the same place. 



In 1892, while I was living atCarberry, W. H. White told 

 me one evening that an immense Rabbit or Hare was on his 

 pea-field that day. It was some new kind, larger than any he 

 had ever seen in the country before, and that if it was like its 

 cousin, the English Hare, it would be found on the same spot, 

 at the same time next day. This proved correct. I found 

 the Hare in its 'form' on the pea-field. It turned out to be the 

 present species. In the park at Wyndygoul, where I had White- 

 tails for years, I found that each individual kept closely to his 

 own region of 10 or 15 acres, though free of 120. 



Analogy also bears out the theory of a limited range. 

 T. W. Proger, the Welsh naturalist, writes me concerning the 

 European Hare, which is closely akin to our own: "The 

 home locality of the Hare is less than 2 miles across"; that 

 is, a radius of i mile; around this it runs when pursued. I 



