68 TJic Hare. [Sess. 



Instances are recorded of deer, and even of the fox with all 

 his wariness, being caught napping ; and it is perhaps worthy 

 of note that I have seen a hare sound asleep. Forming one of 

 a shooting-party some years ago in Berwickshire, we were beat- 

 ing a grass field, when I spied a hare in her form. Telling 

 the sportsman next me to be ready, I walked close up to 

 " puss," when, to my surprise, I observed that her eyes were 

 closed, and that she was evidently in an unconscious snooze. 

 Calling out to the others, " Here is a hare sleeping ! " the sound 

 of my voice in such close proximity caused her to awake, and, 

 giving a wild stare, she bounded off. This does not comport 

 with the general opinion that hares sleep with their eyes open. 

 Though hares feeding is a common sight to those who live in 

 the country, few have had opportunities of seeing them drink- 

 ing. Once I was fortunate enough to see this, when fishing 

 at dusk in Loch Garry. Casting down the side of the lake, I 

 struck the heather on the bank behind me and lost the fly. 

 Sitting down to put another on the cast, I was interested in 

 observing two hares, one behind the other, coming down the hill 

 towards where I sat. Keeping perfectly still, I watched their 

 movements, and was not a little surprised to see them go close 

 to the edge of the lake — one of them on to a large flat stone 

 bleached white by the sun and the action of the w^ater — and 

 drink for a considerable time. After assuaging their thirst, 

 they cantered up hill again and commenced to feed. 



Through the hare being subjected to daily danger from 

 numerous enemies. Nature has extended to her the means of 

 self-preservation by her senses of seeing, hearing, and smelling 

 being all extremely acute in an equal degree. In this hares 

 are unlike most other animals, which are dependent chiefly for 

 protection upon one or other of the senses, as illustrated in the 

 case of the red deer, with its marvellous power of detecting 

 the presence of an enemy, sometimes nearly a mile distant, by 

 its sense of smell alone. I do not mean to assert that deer do 

 not quickly both see and hear, especially the latter ; but, as is 

 well known, they trust much more to their sense of smell for 

 protection. Hares are also, though in a more limited sense, 

 dependent on their nasal organ. I have been interested, when 

 sitting qiiietly under a hedge on a moonlight night, to see them 

 feeding, and directly one got leeward of where I was, she 



