BREEDING HABITS. 25 



lu view of these facts it may be worth while, before cousidering the 

 subject of depredations or the methods used in extermiuation, to dwell 

 somewhat on the way in which these rabbits contrive to hold their own 

 under iip])arently great disadvantages and when exposed to attacks of 

 every kind. ISTaturally their breeding liabits and the rate at which the 

 animals increase should be considered in this connection. 



IJKKEDING HAHrrS. 



The breeding halnts of the Old World hare and I'abbit are well 

 known and have been determined repeatedly by observations on ani- 

 mals kept in conlinement, so that the i)eriod of gestation, the number 

 of young in a litter, the number of litters born iu a year, and the age 

 at which each sjjecies begins to breed are known with considerable 

 accuracy. According to Sir llichard Owen, the period of gestation in 

 the Old World hare {Lepus timidus) and the rabbit {Lepus cuniculus) 

 varies from thirty to thirty-one days, and it is probably much the same 

 in the case of our native si^ecies. The common European rabbit breeds 

 from four to eight times a year and the number of young varies from 

 3 to 8 in each litter; it begins to breed when only G months old and 

 attains an age of 7 or 8 years. ' 



The breeding habits of the various jack rabbits are so much alike 

 that the account of those of any one species will serve as an illustration 

 of the others. The following description is taken from Dr. Cones' paper 

 on the Prairie Hare in Montana, to which reference has already been 

 made : 



Iu tho regions where I have studied this hare, the female hrings forth iu June and 

 early .July — oftener tho latter — aud appareutly only one litter is produced each 

 sea.son. The number of young is 5 or 6, as a rule. The form is simply constructed, 

 without burrowing, iu the grass beneath some low, thick bush or tuft of weeds. 

 The young are said to suckle aud follow the mother for a month or more. They are 

 agile little creatures, even when only a week or two old, aud it is only when very 

 young that they can be caught by hand. In traveling along the Milk River (where 

 the species was abundant), early in July, 1 had several little ones brought to me, aud 

 some I kept for a time in a box. * « * Though only 5 or 6 inches long, they had 

 all the motions and attitudes characteristic of the jiareuts, and made shift to run 

 about quite cleverl}'. They could not eat, but some of them could be coaxed to lick 

 a little milk. (Bull, iissex Inst., YII, 1^75, p. 81.) 



Much still remains to be learned iu regard to the iiumber of young 

 per annum, the exact tiaie when they are born and particularly the num- 

 ber of litters per year. The interest in this subject is not restricted to 

 the naturalist, for it is a matter of practical importance to the orchardist 

 or the farmer to know when his eflbrts at extermination will be most 

 eflective. 



Kinnber of young in a Jitter. — Compared with the domesticated ral)bit 

 the jack rabbit does not increase very rapidly. Writers, however, 

 differ widely concerning the number of young and the frequency with 

 which the ditferent species breed. Most of the statements seem to be 



1 Flower & Lydekker, Mammals Living aud Extinct, 1891, p. 494. 



