RABBIT SHOOTING. 



399 



the hedge, the chances would be against her being 

 retrieved. 



RABBIT SHOOTING. 



Babbits are alternately deemed game and ver- 

 min. They are sometimes shot for sport, some- 

 times for profit, and sometimes on account of 

 the mischief they do to trees and other vege- 

 tation. They sometimes seat themselves all day 

 long, after the manner of hares, but more com- 

 monly they remain the greater portion of the day 

 in their burrows. As they are shy of approach, 

 and run under ground on the least alarm, the 

 shooter frequently finds it expedient to hide himself 

 at a little distance from the warren, and wait until 

 they come out. Where rabbits are numerous, as 

 in most warrens they are, some will be continually 

 playing within a few yards of the entrance of the 

 burrows, and when found in such situations, (for 

 they are very tenacious of life,) they should be 

 struck very hard, or they will contrive to crawl, 

 or rather roll into their earths before the shooter 

 can pick them up. It is astonishing what efforts 



