THE BLACK-TAILED HARE 225 



carry him. Had I not been there and inter- 

 cepted the coyote, another instant would have 

 witnessed the poor rabbit being torn to shreds 

 by those cruel canine teeth. 



I have often wondered how it would seem to 

 be thus called upon to flee for one's life at a 

 moment's notice with the unhappy and horrible 

 prospect of being eaten alive if one's prowess as 

 a runner was not equal to the exigency. There 

 is no doubt but that not only rabbits but nearly 

 all smaller mammals are almost daily called 

 upon to meet just such issues. How hard their 

 lot must be in comparison with that of the 

 super-mammal, man, who through his wisdom 

 and invention has found almost complete free- 

 dom from such dangers! Rabbits seem to have 

 about the hardest lot of all the small mammals 

 that roam the fields; for the number of their 

 natural enemies is almost legion. Owls, hawks, 

 snakes, coyotes, wild cats, golden eagles, and 

 man, all crave their tender flesh and thirst for 

 their sweet, warm blood ; and were it not for the 

 extraordinary fecundity of these rodents they 

 would long ago have become extinct. Nature, 

 solicitous for the rabbits' preservation, or else 



