THE AMERICAN RABBIT. 



(OTTONTAIL and Molly Cot- 

 tontail are the names com- 

 monly applied to this easily 

 recognized species of the 

 Rabbit family, ever}^-- 

 where prevalent in the middle states, 

 continuing to be numerous in spite of 

 the fact that it is constantly hunted in 

 season for food. Its flesh is more deli- 

 cate than that of the larger species, 

 and is much valued. In winter the 

 city markets are well supplied with 

 Cottontails, their increase beingso large 

 that they are always abundant, while 

 in rural districts the small boys cap- 

 ture them in great numbers with dogs. 

 We have known two hundred of these 

 innocent creatures to be taken in one 

 day on a single farm. If protected for 

 but one season they would become as 

 Rabbits are in Australia, a pest. 



Rabbits live in burrows, which are 

 irregular in construction and often 

 communicate with each other. From 

 many of its foes the Rabbit escapes 

 by diving into its burrow, but there 

 are some animals, as the Weasel and 

 Ferret, which follow it into its subter- 

 ranean home and slay it. Dogs, 

 especially those of the small terrier 

 breeds, will often force their way into 

 the burrows, where they have some- 

 times paid the penalty of their lives 

 for their boldness. The Rabbit has 

 been seen to watch a terrier dog go 

 into its burrow, and then fill up the 

 entrance so effectually that the invader 

 has not been able to retrace his steps, 

 and has perished miserably in the 

 subterranean tomb. 



When the female Rabbit is about to 

 begin to rear a family, she quits the 

 ordinary burrows and digs a special 

 tunnel in which to shelter the young 

 family during the first few weeks of 

 life. At the extremity of the burrow she 

 places a large quantity of dried herbage 



mingled with down from her own 

 body, with which to make a soft and 

 warm bed for the little ones. These 

 are about seven or eight in number, 

 and are born without hair and with 

 closed eyes, which they are only able 

 to open after ten or twelve days. 



When domesticated the female Rab- 

 bit will often devour her young, a 

 practice which has been considered 

 incurable. This propensity has, how- 

 ever, been accounted for by natural 

 causes. It has been the custom to 

 deprive pet Rabbits of water on the 

 the ridiculous plea that in a wild state 

 they do not drink, obtaining sufficient 

 moisture from the green herbs and 

 grasses which constitute their food, 

 but in the open country they always 

 feed while the dew lies upon every 

 blade, which of course is never the 

 case with green food with which 

 domestic Rabbits are supplied. Thus 

 have these poor innocents been the 

 victims of ignorance. 



Rabbits are great depredators in 

 fields, gardens, and plantations, destroy- 

 ing in very wantonness hundreds of 

 plants which they do not care to eat. 

 They do great damage to young trees, 

 stripping them of their tender bark, as 

 far up as they can reach while stand- 

 ing on their hind feet. Sometimes 

 they eat the bark, but in many cases 

 they leave it in heaps upon the ground, 

 having chiseled it from the tree merely 

 for the sake of exercising their teeth 

 and keeping them in good order. 



It is true that most Rabbits burrow 

 in the ground, their burrows having 

 many devious ramifications, but the 

 Cottontail usually makes his home in 

 a little dug-out, concealed under a bush 

 or a tuft of grass. We remember one 

 of these little excavations which we 

 found in a cemetery concealed by the 

 overhanging branches of a rosebush at 



(Continued on page 29.) 

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