THE BLACK-TAILED HARE 227 



These rabbits are out foraging both during 

 the day and at night, but they are the more 

 active in the dark. Much of the time during the 

 day they remain hidden in pocket-like shelters 

 made in the brush. These " forms," as they are 

 called, are about the rabbits' only protection 

 against bad weather, and were it not for their 

 heavy, furry winter coats they would spend 

 many days in discomfort. The cottontails are 

 wise enough to seek shelter in holes. 



When the rabbits go foraging, they are not 

 fastidious eaters. The bitter-barked creosote 

 bush and the Bigelow's cactus are among the 

 few plants of the desert immune from their 

 attack. Practically all other trees, shrubs, and 

 herbs are subject to their nibbles. Even the 

 greater number of cactuses with their sharp 

 spines are robbed of their juicy outer parts. 

 Barrel cactuses, those spine-protected natural 

 reservoirs of the desert, are especially sought 

 out. How the tender rabbit noses are able with 

 impunity to be thrust in between the rigid, 

 thick-set spines is a mystery that is still to be 

 explained. I have often found on the dry, rocky 

 mesas, great numbers of the bisnagas, or barrel 



