Chap. 2. 



QUADRUPEDS OF VERMONT. 



''i-9 



THE VARYING HARE. 



THE MOOSE. 



tawny yellow color. Ears and head of 

 equal length ; tail very short ; nails long, 

 slightly arched, compressed at the base, 

 and entirely covered by the hair. Incis- 

 ors above and below nearly equal, the for- 

 mer slia^htly arched and marked by a lon- 

 gitudinal groove. Length of the speci- 

 men before me, which was taken in Sep- 

 tember, from the nose to the root of tlie 

 tail, 16 inches; tail, including the fur, ] A; 

 ears 3.^ ; hind foot, 5^. Color, in its wiii- 

 Ur dress, white, or nearly so, resulting 

 from the hairs being bluish at tlieir base, 

 then yellowish ftiwn, tipped with white. 



History. — This hare is quite common 

 in Vermont, and, in the winter season, is 

 usually called the white rabbit. It is less 

 ))rolific than the preceding species, pro- 

 ducing its young only once or twice a year, 

 and having from 4 to 6 at a time. The 

 young are able to see at birth, and are 

 covered with hair. They are able to pro- 

 vide for themselves in a very few days, af- 

 ter which they receive but little aid from 

 their mothers. The hares feed in sum- 

 mer upon grass, juicy herbs, and the 

 leaves and buds of shrubs, but in winter, 

 when the snow is deep, they gain a pre- 

 carious subsistence from the buds and 

 bark of bushes and small trees. The bark 

 of the willow, birch, poplar, and the buds 

 of the pine, are with them favorite arti- 

 cles of food. Tlie hares are the most timid 

 and defenceless of all quadrupeds, and no 

 animals have more numerous or formidable 

 enemies. They are pursued and destroy- 

 ed in great numbers, by men and dogs, 

 by eagles, hawks, and owls, and by all the 

 carnivorous beasts of the forests ; and yet, 

 notwithstanding this destruction, nature 

 has sufficiently provided, in tlieir great 

 fecundity, for the preservation of the sev- 

 eral sjiecies. When pursued, the Ameri- 

 can rabbit soon becomes wearied, and to 

 avoid being overtaken, takes . shelter in 

 some hole in the earth, in a heap of logs, 

 or stones, or in a hollow log, but this spe- 

 cies is so fleet as to be in no fear of being 

 overtaken by its pursuers, and, therefore, 

 does not seek concealment. It has been 

 ascertained by measurement that it can 

 leap 21 feet at a bound, ajid its body is so 

 light in comparison with its broad furry 

 feet that it is enabled to skim easily along 

 tlie surface of deep snows, while the wea- 

 ried hounds plunge in at every bound, 

 and soon give up the hopeless pursuit. 

 The skin of the hare is of no value, but 

 the flesh is considered nourishing food. 



Okt.er RUMINANTIA. 



Animals of tliis order have three kinds 

 of teeth. They have no incisors in the 

 upper jaw, but have usually eight in the 

 Ft. I 7 



lower, which are opposed to a callosity on 

 the upper gums. In some species there 

 are canines only in the upper jaw, and 

 others have them in both. The grinders 

 are twelve in each jaw, marked with two 

 double crescents of enamel on their 

 crowns, of which the convexity is out- 

 wards in the lower, and internal in the 

 upper jaw ; articulations of the jaw adap- 

 ted for a triturating motion. 'I'he limbs 

 are disposed for walking ; the feet with 

 two hoofed toes ; the two bones of the met- 

 acarpus and metatarsus, consolidated in- 

 to one; organs of digestion calculated for 

 ruminating, consisting of four stomachs ; 

 intestines long ; two or four inguinal 

 mammoe. The males have horns, and the 

 females, too, in some species ; food always 

 vegetable. The most remarkable faculty 

 of these animals is that of rumination, or 

 of returning the food into tlie mouth for 

 the purpose of chewing it a second time, 

 called chewing the cud, and hence the 

 name of the order, RuminaiUia. 



Genus Ceevus. — Lirmaus. 

 Generic Characters. Teeth 32, or 34 — 

 Incisors SL — canines Q-« or 1 .1 "riiuierH il.-D . 



8 0° 6 (i 



Tlio canines, where they exist, are bent bacU and 

 compressed. Heud long, terminated by a muz- 

 zle ; eyes large, pupils elongated transversely ; 

 most of the species have a lachrymal sinus; car« 

 long and pointed ; tongue soft ; horns solid, decid- 

 uous, palmated, branched, or simple, in the males ; 

 females destitute of horns, except in one species; 

 four inguinal manmise. 



<«SiV*S!g»%,^^ 



THE MOOSE. 



Cervus alces. — LitfNiEus. 

 Description. — Head long, narrow be- 

 fore the eyes and enlarged towards the 

 mouth, which has some analogy to that of 

 the horse ; upper lip exceedingly devel- 

 oped and very thick ; nostrils, a lateral 

 slit, move open anteriorly than beliind ; 

 eyes small, near the base of the horns ; 



