38 THE RABBIT 



wax, light the wick, .and start the bearer of it down 

 the burrow. The rabbit will probably come out in 

 such a hurry that the crab will be knocked over, and 

 the light will be put out, but that will be of little con- 

 sequence if the rabbit is also knocked over by a well- 

 directed charge of shot. 



If it were not for the extraordinary fecundity of 

 the rabbit, the number of litters to which a doe will 

 give birth in a year, and the number of young pro- 

 duced in each litter, the species Lepus cuniculus, with 

 such a host of enemies, foremost of which is man, must 

 long ago have become extinct. As if it were not 

 enough to face the gun, and run the risk of capture 

 by ferret, gin, brass wire, or drop-down net, the 

 unfortunate ' Bunter ' has a host of natural enemies 

 to contend with, both furred and feathered. Fore- 

 most amongst these, perhaps, because so pertinacious 

 a pursuer, hunting by scent, is the stoat {Mustela 

 erminea), who need never go without a dinner where 

 rabbits abound. He will not only enter a burrow like 

 a ferret and cause the inmates to bolt, but will pursue 

 a rabbit in the open like a foxhound, and sooner or 

 later overtake and kill him. The present writer has 

 on several occasions been an eye-witness of both 

 these manceuvres, and, standing motionless to watch 

 the performance, has been struck with the courage 



