BABBIT TRACKS 145 



'^ He keeps very inueli the same color all the year, — 

 a grayish brown top coat with bits of yellow and a 

 whitish vest. As to moulting, all fur-bearing animals 

 moult spring and fall, and have a long hairy covering 

 that they wear all the year, and a short soft under-fur 

 that grows tluclc* to keep them warm in winter and 

 thins out in s[)ring. Animals from the North need 

 most protection and have the thickest under-fur, so are 

 of more value than the same sort of animal who lives 

 in the South and has little need of under-fur. All the 

 old hair has its time of breaking and shedding like the 

 hair of our own heads. " This Hare likes to live near 

 woods where he can find tender shoots to nibble, when 

 gardens are empty and meadows covered with snow ; 

 but he spends most of his time in brush lots where 

 there is thick shelter, and he lives in every state in the 

 Union that can yield him food. Pretty and gentle he 

 is, yet no one can deny that he is a mischief-maker, and 

 while he must not be allowed to eat our lettuce, cab- 

 bages, or field roots, we must also be careful not to 

 exterminate him." 



''What good does he do? Can he earn his living 

 and pay his taxes ? " 



" Yes, he does, in a roundabout way, by being food 

 for some other animal, who would eat more valuable 

 things if it were not for poor little Bunny. 



" Another Hare which might be mistaken for the 

 Gray Rabbit is his swamp-loving cousin, the INIarsh Hare 

 Avho lives south of North Carolina, taking to the Avater 

 like a rat. This ]\Iarsh Hare has a large head, short 

 ears and legs, and little or no hair on its soles, so that 

 its footprints show the mark of the toe-nails. Its coat 



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