THE RABBIT 167 



not to be found. It is exceedingly prolific, to 

 such an extent that in many districts it defies the 

 efforts of man to exterminate it. One naturalist 

 tells us that the offspring from one old pair of 

 wild Rabbits, if left to breed free from enemies of 

 all kinds, would be the means of producing a 

 million in one year; this is, perhaps, an exaggera- 

 tion, but no doubt they do multiply to an alarm- 

 ing extent. 



No animal has more enemies than the Rabbit, 

 especially during the early part of its life; in fact, 

 it is very doubtful if more than five per cent, of 

 the young Rabbits born ever come to maturity. 

 This heavy death-rate among the infants is not all 

 due to slaughter by natural enemies, but is often 

 brought about by spells of bad weather. During 

 the early months of the year Rabbits are most 

 prolific, and should snow and severe frost come, as 

 is often the case, nearly all the young die from lack 

 of food. Long periods of wet, too, are even more 

 fatal, especially on heavy land. We have very 

 clear proof of what havoc snow and frost will do, 

 for by taking the year of 1908 we had fewer 

 Rabbits in the country than for many years past, 

 owing to the snow and severe frost during the 

 memorable April of the year mentioned. 



Rabbits breed when from four to six months old. 

 Those born during the early part of the year breed 

 earlier than the late ones. The period of gestation 



