DESERT ANIMALS 



163 



ball, and as he crosses ahead of you perhaps you 

 think he is not moving very fast. But shoot at 

 him and see how far behind him your rifle ball 

 strikes the dust. No coyote or wolf is foolish 

 enough to chase him or ever try to run him 

 down. His endurance is quite as good as his 

 speed. It makes no difference about his not 

 drinking water and that all his energy comes 

 from bark and dry grass. He keeps right on 

 running ; over stones, through cactus, down a 

 canyon, up a mountain. For keen senses and 

 swift legs he is the desert type as emphatically 

 as the coyote that is forever prowling on his 

 track. 



The little " cotton-tail " rabbit is not perhaps 

 so well provided for as the jack-rabbit ; but 

 then he does not live in the open and is not so 

 exposed to attack. He hides in brush, weeds, or 

 grass ; and when startled makes a quick dash 

 for a hole in the ground or a ledge of rock. His 

 legs are good for a short distance, and his senses 

 are acute ; but the wild cat or the coyote catches 

 him at last. The continuance of his species 

 lies in prolific breeding. The wild cat, too, 

 catches a good many gophers, rats, mice, and 

 squirrels. The squirrels are many in kind and 

 beautiful in their forms and colorings. One 



Hit endur- 

 ance. 



The "cotton- 

 tail" 



