FAMILY OF HARES AND RABBITS 



285 



young animals, has been able to arrive at cer- 

 tain information. He says : " The length of the 

 breeding season in southern regions indicates 

 that several litters are born each year ; but in 

 the northern United States the number is prob- 

 ably not more than two. or, at the most, three." 

 The earliest date of birth is about the beginning 

 of January ( in desert region of southern Cali- 

 fornia and southern Texas) ; the latest, Septem- 

 ber (. Arizona, Texas and Chihuahua). Most of 

 the young seemed to be born in Aj)ril, May and 

 June. The number of young in a litter were : 

 California Jack "Rabbit," four; Texas Jack 

 " Rabbit," one to six ; Great Plains Jack 

 " Rabbit," one. It should, of course, be re- 

 membered that these figures were based on com- 

 paratively few specimens. 



To dwellers in the East, the numbers of 

 these animals seem incredible. Mr. Alvah 

 H. Eaton, speaking of their ravages in Fresno 

 Countv. California, says: "It was no uncom- 

 mon thing to start 1000 rabbits out of a patch 

 of weeds, and in one patch about a quarter of 

 a mile long there were at least 5000. From 

 20,000 to 25,000 of these animals are sometimes 

 destroyed in a single battue or drive." When 

 wild feed gets scarce, they invade the cultivated 

 areas, if there are any near. All growing grain 

 crops receive especial attention from them ; 

 a])ple and plum trees, raspberry and grape vines, 

 melons, cabbage and carrots — all come alike to 

 them. In Texas, Mr. W. J. Crowley reports 

 " that they cause considerable injury to grain, 

 and in fields of wheat, oats and cotton often cut 

 paths twelve inches wide, and 300 or 400 yards 

 in length, and destroy patches as large as an 

 ordinary sized room." Whitewashing the bark 

 of peach trees does no good, as " the rabbits 

 take the whitewash and the bark together." 

 Even timber claims planted in black .locust, 

 " large and old enough to ' prove up ' on have 

 been destroyed by them." 



The California Black-tailed Jack " Rabbit " 

 is found in the California humid coast belt from 

 Cape Mendocino south to Gaviota Pass, and 

 inland through the north of San Joaquin Valley, 

 Sacramento X'alley, and north to Oregon. It 

 has often been confused with the Texan species, 

 -but is browner and darker above, and its under- 

 parts are tan color or buflf, instead of white, as 

 in the Texan Jack " Rabbit." It is most abun- 

 dant on the chaparral-covered slopes of the west- 

 ern foothill" of the Sierra Nevada. Some idea 

 of the numbers of this Jack " Rabbit " may be 

 gathered from the fact that ]Modoc Countv, Cali- 



fornia, alone, in three consecutive months, paid 

 in bounties ( of three cents a head ) $876.77 for 

 27,559 scalps. 



Coursing this Jack " Rabbit " with greyhounds 

 is a favorite sport in California and elsewhere. 

 Mr. T. S. Van Dyke writes: "A dash after the 

 Hare on a good horse and behind good dogs is 

 one of the most charming of outings. The horse 

 enjoys the sport as well as the dogs do. The 

 ground flies beneath you, the surrounding 

 mountains swim in a haze, the whole amphi- 

 theater seems to turn around while you are 

 standing still. Vainly the Hare twists and sends 

 the dogs spinning ahead in confusion, while he 

 scuds away on his new tack without the loss of 

 an instant, so far as you can see. All ordinary 

 dogs fall out of the race. But if the greyhounds 

 are good and the brush not too near, the Hare's 

 doubling only postpones his end, however untir- 

 ing his foot, or frequent his twist:.. Vainly he 

 lays his ears flatter upon his neck and lets out 

 another link of his reserved speed. Before he 

 has made many turns he is caught — perhaps in 

 mid-air — and the dogs and Hare go rolling 

 over in a heap together." 



The Texas Jack " Rabbit " is a slightly 

 smaller form of the preceding, occurring in 

 northern Durango, ]\Iexico, north through most 

 of New Mexico, northeastern Arizona, to south- 

 west Colorado. It has a long, swinging gallop 

 and is a splendid jumper. At Wichita, Kansas, 

 some of these animals were seen to escape from 

 an inclosure by clearing the fence which was 

 seven feet high. At Fort ^^'hipple, Arizona, Dr. 

 Coues found this species " very common th.e 

 year round. They chiefly affect grassy meadows 

 and open glades, interspersed with copses, or 

 clumps of oak trees, or patches of briery under- 

 growth. In the latitude of Fort Whipple the 

 young are brought forth in June." 



The Texas Jack " Rabbit " is not a symmet- 

 rical animal, nor is he a handsome creature, but 

 " self-preservation is the first law of Nature " 

 and he has wonderful powers of flight. He is 

 not combative ; on the contrary, he is verv timid. 

 These " Rabbits " are guarded by their invisi- 

 bility when crouched in the forms, bv their keen 

 sense of sight and smell, and by their wonder- 

 ful acuteness of hearing, for the augmentation 

 of which their great ears have providentially 

 been developed: but if danger comes too near 

 they can usually escape by flight, a word that 

 approaches literal accuracy as a description of 

 a series of bounds, each from ten to fifteen feet 

 in length. 



