THE ROCK HARE OR RHEBOK-HAAS 



is known to colonists as the Rhcbok-haas because 

 it is found in the haunts of the Vaal Rhebok. 



In the uplands of Natal it is very common. I 

 always found these hares on the flat tops of the 

 plateaus, where they lived in colonies in retreats 

 under overhanging rocks on the edges of the krant- 

 zes. In situations which did not afford a sufficiency 

 of secure rock shelters of this nature, they formed 

 burrows after the manner of the rabbit. 



On the top of a large Table Mountain, near 

 Pietermaritzburg in Natal, I discovered several deep 

 burrows, usually at the bases of masses of boulders. 

 Judging from the quantity of soil cast out at the 

 entrance, these burrows must have been at least 

 three yards deep. On several occasions I observed 

 half-a-dozen and more hares enter one burrow. 



The Rock Hare lies in its secret hiding-places by 

 day and issues forth at dusk, and is active throughout 

 the night. It never ventures far from its retreat, 

 to which it instantly rushes on the appearance of a 

 foe. 



Its diet consists of the scanty herbage which 

 grows on the tops of the plateaus. 



In Natal we frequently hunted these hares by 

 moonlight. Choosing a bright, clear night when 

 the moon was full or nearly so, we walked as noise- 

 lessly as possible along the tops of the krantzes 

 within about ten to twenty yards of the edge, 

 between the herbage and the rocks. The hares, 

 ■which had ventured some distance from their 



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