278 



MAMMALS OF AMERICA 



on his forehead and upper cheeks, for all the 

 world like the spotted circus ponies of one's 

 childhood ; last of all, ermine-white. Not the 

 trimness of the winter \\'easel, however, nor the 

 smooth ivory of your pink-eyed Easter bunny, 

 but a loose-brown Huffiness, careless yet beauti- 

 ful, and a sure duplicate of light-piled snow- 

 flakes that have zigzagged down through the 

 brush. With their first fall he matched the 

 twig-pierced blanket laid vipon the thicket floors ; 

 by mid-December he moves across the drifts 

 intangible as a flying cloud-shadow. Right in 

 the dazzling open he may pause, and the gun 

 that flew up to cover him is lowered, the eye 

 peering uncertainly, to find him gone — or sit- 

 ting there still, white of whiteness. 



" Close at hand he reveals one unexpected 

 lingering of color ; his alert, expressive ears — 

 rounded and not too long, a true woods ear — 

 are tipped and edged with black that never alters. 

 The reason is baffling, but once discovered it is 

 a very triumph of mimicry. For as he crouches 

 beneath a shrub his ears are folded along his 

 neck and throw a shadowing color there, just as 

 every rounded snow-hunnnock is somewhere 

 crossed with shadow from the twigs above. 



" At times his pelage plays him false. TTie 

 harlequin half-way coat cannot but advertise his 

 movements, though at rest it is obscure enough ; 

 and now and then winter grows faint-hearted 

 and leaves him white — prominent in a world of 

 grays and browns. But he takes his troubles 

 philosophically, sticking to cover with closer per- 

 sistence, and biding the near time when he may 

 drift invisible again across the snows." 



The Varying Hare changes his coat twice a 

 year, in spring and autumn, — hence his name. 

 He is often called " Snowshoe Rabbit," because 

 the elongated track he makes in the snow looks 

 like a diminutive snowshoe track. The popular 

 story that he changes his coat in a single night 

 or with the first snowfall is untrue. The change 

 is gradual and accomplished by shedding and 

 new growth. There are two Hares in this group, 

 the Washington Varying Hare and the Oregon 

 Snowshoe " Rabbit," whose coats do not turn 

 white in winter. It is worth noting that most of 

 the southern forms in the summer coat have the 

 upper part of the hind feet brown similar to the 

 body, whereas the northern and the high moun- 

 tain Hares have the tops of the hind feet white. 



The Varying Hares occupy a greater stretch 

 of territory than any other group, ranging from 

 the Atlantic coast to the Pacific, and to the shore 

 of Behring Sea in Alaska ; and as far south as 



Virginia in the East and New Mexico in the 

 \\'est. 



Mr. Edward A. Preble found them abun- 

 dant in the Athabaska region of Canada. " While 

 descending the Athabaska and Slave rivers we 

 saw large numbers of Varying Hares," he states. 

 " In many places along the banks the dense 

 thickets of willows and other shrubs had been 

 eaten almost down to the ground. On the Smith 

 Portage road their ravages are especially notice- 

 able, the young Banksian pines being here their 

 principal food. The many evidences of winter 

 snaring, and the thousands of white ' rabbit ' 

 skins which littered the neighborhood of an oc- 

 casional deserted Indian camp, showed that this 

 locality had been a favorite resort for both ' rab- 

 bits ' and Indians during the preceding winter." 

 In this district, each Indian, and some of the 

 white inhabitants, maintained what was known 

 as a " rabbit track." This was a trail extending 

 for several miles with snares set at frequent in- 

 tervals. " A pole to which the noose is attached 

 is balanced over a convenient limb and tips up 

 when the snare is released, suspending the ani- 

 mal in midair. This insures a speedy death and 

 places the quarry out of reach of dogs and other 

 predatory quadrupeds. They freeze in the 

 snares and are kept for weeks and months in 

 this state without deterioration, and figure exten- 

 sively on the winter bill-of-fare at the northern 

 trading posts." 



Varying Hares are a favorite prey of the bald 

 and golden eagles, several of the hawks, and the 

 snowy, great-horned, and some other owls, while 

 among their four-footed foes must be reckoned 

 the lynx, wolf, fox, sable, mink, weasel and 

 ermine, besides domestic dogs and cats. In- 

 dians use the skins for robes, mittens and caps. 

 The Dogribs lure the animals within rifle range 

 by making a kind of rasping squeak. Preble 

 " easily learned to imitate the sound, and soon 

 became a proficient rabbit caller. The method is 

 successful only during the breeding season. 

 Adults of both sexes are attracted by the sound, 

 but the young seldom respond to it." This is a 

 curious analogy to Moose-calling. 



These Hares are subject to several diseases ; 

 and epidemics, recurring about every five or six 

 years, often reduce their numbers to the verge 

 of extermination. Major A. E. Snyder, writing 

 from the Yukon, of the results of one such epi- 

 demic, says : " The disease has evidentlv spent 

 itself and only the healthy rabbits are left. In 

 a journey recently of twenty days' duration, I 

 saw only two ; in other words, where there were 



