186 WOODLAND CREATURES 



A strong sense of locality is possessed by the 

 smallest of young rabbits, and from the moment 

 it first ventures out, to bite the grass at the 

 mouth of the hole in which it was born, it 

 keeps one eye on the shortest way home, so as 

 always to be able to execute a speedy retreat. 



The reason for the self-reliance of young rabbits 

 is that, once they are able to eat, their mother 

 takes very little interest in them. She already 

 has another family in prospect, for no sooner 

 is the first litter sent out into the world than 

 accommodation has to be got ready for the 

 next, and if the site is out in the open the 

 hole has to be specially dug, though, as mentioned 

 before, many a family is reared in a secluded 

 corner of the big burrow. How much truth 

 there is in the assertion that under these cir- 

 cumstances they are liable to be murdered by 

 their own father, is a matter on which I should 

 not like to venture an opinion. Among 

 domestic rabbits it is certainly not uncommon 

 for the old buck to destroy his progeny, but 

 the conditions of life in a cage are so unnatural 

 that it is not safe to draw comparisons. Yet, 

 whatever horrible accidents may occasionally 

 take place in the darkest recesses of the holes, 

 the mothers must as a rule rear their families 

 in safety, for the number of young rabbits 

 that are annually launched into the world 

 is enormous. 



Several animals have already been alluded to 

 as helping to keep the rabbit population within 



