WHITE WILD RABBITS 35 



I have recently seen a statement to the effect 

 that rabbits which have once been domesticated 

 relinquish their burrowing propensities, an asser- 

 tion which I do not believe to be true ; indeed, I 

 am well aware that such is not the case, having 

 had every opportunity of witnessing the havoc 

 wrought by some three or four tame rabbits which, 

 after having been kept in confinement for a con- 

 siderable time, were permitted their liberty in the 

 back of a small garden in one of our Northern 

 towns. In a very short space of time they had 

 formed burrows in every direction, and succeeded 

 in so completely undermining one of the walls 

 as to render it unsafe. It is the natural habit 

 of a rabbit to burrow, and I do not for an instant 

 believe that any amount of domestication would 

 eradicate this tendency if the animals were sub- 

 sequently enlarged. I refer, of course, to pure 

 wild rabbits, which may have been domesticated, 

 and not to the lop-eared and other fancy breeds. 

 Where white rabbits have been turned down in a 

 park, they make burrows in the same way as their 

 commoner coloured brethren. There are gener- 

 ally a few specimens of the black variety to be 

 found on every manor. I am, however, inclined 

 to consider their flesh 'inferior to that of the 

 common grey rabbit. 



Despite their size, tame rabbits are never of a 

 very delicate flavour, and much the same may be 

 said of those kept in movable hutches. 



Much has been written on the subject of rabbit- 



