THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



deer-like. Again, they take to following the 

 leader: one jumps over a stone, the other 

 follows; the first leaps a chasm two feet 

 wide, the second is at his heels; they crouch 

 in the shadow of a stone, then dash out into 

 the light capering, then peer out from the 

 shadow again where they remain, momen- 

 tarily interested in washing each other's 

 faces. Soon they are playing boisterously 

 again, one bounding into air without any 

 preliminary hint of such an intention, the 

 other shaking his head until his long car- 



A very serious and determined young rabbit (four 

 weeks old), but ready for play at any moment. Jack rab- 

 bits have the play instinct from the first day, but play 

 activity increases from the fourth day to a maximum at 

 the close of two weeks, continuing unchanged thereafter 

 except as influenced by increased muscular strength 



tilaginous ears snap together. Finally one 

 of them sees something that stimulates his 

 curiosity. He watches eagerly, his ears 

 straight forward and widely opened. He pro- 

 gresses a little, he drops one ear, he moves 

 slightly to the right, to the left, he stretches 

 slowly forward, investigation written plainly 

 in eyes, ears and tense muscles. Ah ! it 's 

 only a shadow after all and Bunny Jack races 

 away, lowering his tail so that it is like a 

 little black streak between his flying hind legs. 

 The most surprising thing about young jack 

 rabbits in the light of the fact that 

 they are so highly developed when 

 born, is their continued dependence 

 on a milk diet as the weeks pass. 

 On March 2 (sixth day), they 

 showed the first recognition of the 

 possession of teeth b}' chewing at 

 the nest material. When two weeks 

 old (March 10), they gained their 

 first interest in grass, sniffing at it 

 with noses a-wiggle and little red 

 tongues thrust out at right or left, 

 but refusing to eat more than one 

 or two of the grass ribbons. The 

 tliree weeks ' limit was reacheil 

 (March 17), four weeks were gone 

 (March 24), five weeks (March 

 31), and the situation seemed 

 astounding. Six weeks (April 7), 

 at last they showed willingness to 

 eat clover and grass. During the 

 seventh week they were weaned 

 from their improvised "bottle" — 

 most unwillingly on their part — 

 and with the change in diet became 

 increasingly wild. 



This long period of dependence 

 on the mother jack rabbit is an in- 

 teresting fact for the gardener as 

 well as for the naturalist. It is 

 likely that in this relatiA-ely north- 



fern part of California the jack rab- 

 bit breeds only three or four times 

 a season, the months of October, 

 November, December, and January 

 constituting a definite winter sea- 

 son. Therefore the best time 

 for reducing the ranks of these 

 rabbits is during the winter 

 months, before March — provided 

 the ranks ever again need reducing. 

 For in California rabbits for the 

 most part no longer devastate the 

 crops. This is owing to a constant 



