CHAPTER XXI 

 SOME FOUR-FOOTED PESTS OF THE FARM 



FARMERS and orchardists suffer serious losses from rodents. 

 The various species of rabbits, field mice, ground squirrels, gophers 

 and prairie dogs levy an annual toll of over ten million dollars 

 upon agricultural products. In wooded sections of the middle 

 and northern states the cottontail rabbit works havoc in winter 

 in nurseries and young orchards, frequently girdling valuable 

 trees. Rats are destructive to corn, grain, and other stored prod- 

 ucts, and also endanger life by spreading disease. 



The injuries of a number of the most common animals of this 

 character are discussed in this chapter, and practical remedies 

 are given. 



Hares and Rabbits. It is hard to draw a sharp line between 

 hares and rabbits. The names are applied indiscriminately to 

 almost all animals of this group except the cottontail. In gen- 

 eral, it may be said that the true hare does not burrow, but it 

 would hardly be correct to say that all members of this family 

 which do not burrow are hares. The so-called Belgian hare is not 

 a hare, but a rabbit. This animal burrows if allowed to do so, 

 plucks fur from itself to prepare its nest for its young, and gives 

 birth to a litter of from four to eight or more whose eyes are closed 

 at birth. In marked contrast, the prairie hare, commonly called 

 the jack-rabbit, crouches on its form upon the prairie and pro- 

 duces from one to six young, whose eyes are open when born. 

 The development of the young jack-rabbit is very rapid, and when 

 it is only a week old it is nearly or quite able to look out for itself. 



The cottontail or gray rabbit (Fig. 399) is found over almost 

 all of North America. On account of its wide distribution and the 

 rapidity with which it increases, it is the most injurious of the 

 rabbits. While the cottontail resorts to burrows made by other 

 animals, when they are available, it may have a brush heap, or 

 even a tussock of coarse grass or weeds, for its home. It breeds 

 in early spring and on through the season. On an average, from 

 two to four young (Fig. 400) are produced at a birth, and there 

 may be more than one litter. The young are weaned when about 

 three weeks old. There is good authority for the statement that 



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