46 CONCERNING RABBITS 



imported Scotch rabbit-trappers and established them in the 

 now flourishing township of Colac. These trappers dug out 

 as many burrows as they could, and blocked up others with 

 masonry ; and in the end the rabbit had to give way (on 

 Messrs. Robertson's land) to the Scotchmen. But it is need- 

 less to say that a number of trappers are employed upon every 

 Australian property in the neighbourhood of a rabbit-infested 

 district. . . . Foxes were introduced into the south of 

 Victoria, but they seem to have come to the conclusion that 

 it was easier to catch a lamb than a rabbit. . . . Wire netting is 

 used on a very large scale ; some of these fences are hundreds 

 of miles long ; but there is always a chance of rabbits burrow- 

 ing under the netting, or of their being fenced in.' 



It is well for the beauty of our woodlands that so 

 many monocotyledons possess some virtue that protects 

 them against attack by rabbits. The Lily and Ama- 

 ryllis orders appear to be immune, else we should have 

 no wild hyacinths in our woods, no snowdrops or 

 daffodils in our meadows. Unhappily, though the 

 genus Iris in most of its species is unpalatable to rabbits 

 (witness the yellow fleur-de-lys that adorns the water- 

 side, and the gladdon which displays its scarlet seeds to 

 cheer the wintry days), crocus, whereof the whole race 

 belongs to the order Irid, is treated by these unhallowed 

 rodents as a choice delicacy. The loss to our spring 

 landscape is infinite, as one may realise by imagining 

 what charming results would ensue from sheets of 

 purple, white and golden crocuses lavishly spread in 

 parks and pleasure-grounds. 



It occurred to me this morning to speculate on the 

 peculiar property which ensures the safety of the 

 common star of Bethlehem (Ornithorjalum umbel- 



