THE RABBIT 169 



During the early months of the year Rabbits are 

 found (where not in colonies) in pairs, but in spite 

 of this I always look on them more as polygamous 

 animals. Fierce fights take place between the 

 bucks, and should a stranger enter a colony he gets 

 a rough time of it. The means of punishing each 

 other is by biting and kicking, as may often be 

 seen by the quantity of fur lying about where the 

 battle has taken place. I have known, too, bit and 

 torn ears the result of fighting. 



The food consists of nearly all the vegetable 

 produce of a farm, such as grass, seeds, clover, 

 roots, and young sprouting corn. Much damage is 

 often done during severe weather by Rabbits 

 gnawing the bark of underwood, and where kept 

 in large numbers serious injury is done to big 

 timber. Considering the damage they do it is a 

 wonder they are so numerous, but this may be 

 attributed to the sporting shot they give and their 

 value as an article of food. 



The various means of capture are mostly well 

 known; perhaps the most effective is trapping 

 when exterminating the animals altogether is the 

 object in view. Much has been said of late years 

 about the use of the steel trap by people who know 

 perhaps least about the matter, and who so far 

 have failed to find any substitute as effective 

 and capable of inflicting less punishment. In the 

 capture or destruction of most wild animals it 



