NATURAL HISTORY OF THE RABBIT 19 



are reared only for the market, and not for sporting 

 purposes, the best mode of procedure is to net a wild 

 buck rabbit and place it with a Belgian doe in a 

 partially darkened loose box in a stable otherwise un- 

 used. When they have been long enough together, 

 the buck should be restored to liberty, and the off- 

 spring, when weaned, turned into different burrows. 

 It will not answer so well to catch a wild doe and 

 place it with a Belgian buck, for the wild doe does not 

 breed so readily in captivity. The progeny in the 

 former case always resemble the wild rabbit more than 

 the so-called Belgian hare. 



The rabbit is usually regarded as one of the 

 most timid of animals, seldom permitting a very near 

 approach (unless when in a ' seat ' it believes itself to 

 be undiscovered) and usually taking to flight at the 

 least alarm. The case is different, however, when a 

 doe has young to look after. Her maternal courage 

 is then displayed in a way that is sometimes asto- 

 nishing. 



One day in September 1890, while Mr. Randolph, 

 of Modbury, Wiltshire, was passing through a wood, 

 he observed a weasel hunting a young rabbit about 

 the size of a man's fist. He stood still to watch the 

 result. The chase did not last long, for the young 

 rabbit soon gave up, and the weasel killed it. An old 



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