THE NORTHERN PRAIRIE HARE. 



THIS is the most northern species 

 of the group of hares {Lepns 

 campestris), familiarly known in 

 the United States as jack rab- 

 bits because of their large size and 

 enormous ears. They are lively ani- 

 mals of astounding jumping powers. 

 In America there is no such distinction 

 between the term "hare" and "rabbit" 

 as there is in Europe, where the large, 

 long-eared, stout varieties, living in 

 shallow "forms," are named hares, and 

 the smaller and more slender kind, 

 which digs a deep burrow, is the "rab- 

 bit." In this country the authorities 

 say that no well-defined distinction 

 exists. Of the so-called jack rabbits 

 the northern prairie hare here depicted 

 may be taken as the type. It is one of 

 the largest species of hares, measuring 

 about twenty inches in length, and it 

 has long, strong, and vigorous limbs, 

 and such remarkably long ears that the 

 popular name it bears is fully justified. 

 This northern species is found on 

 the western prairies from British 

 America to Colorado. It undergoes a 

 winter change of coat, becoming nearly 

 white, but the blanching is never com- 

 plete and russet streaks or patches re- 

 main through the winter. The habits 

 of this animal are those of hares in 

 general, and all the species known as 

 jack rabbits are famous for their great 

 speed and for the astounding leaps 

 they make in running. They are the 

 most fleet and agile of American mam- 

 mals. They are not much pursued for 

 the reason that they are difficult to 

 shoot, and their celerity of movement 

 enables them to elude four-footed foes 

 also. Pending the complete change 

 from the summer brown to the snowy- 

 white coat of winter, the animal pre- 

 sents a very singular mottled appear- 

 ance. 



Hares are a very important article of 

 commerce and, during the winter sea- 

 son, tons of them are daily shipped to 



the principal markets from all quarters. 

 They are sold at cheap rates, and are 

 frequently peddled about the streets 

 by the cartload at surprisingly low 

 figures. 



The methods of pursuit and capture 

 of these animals are numerous, but the 

 most common and successful are trail- 

 ing in the snow with dogs, hounding, 

 and coursing. To trail hares in the 

 winter one must have dogs of keen 

 scent and a light fall of from two to 

 four inches of snow must have been 

 deposited the night previous to an early 

 morning start. Two or more hunters 

 equipped with dogs and guns usually 

 start together. Thickets of elder and 

 blackberry are sought where the game 

 is known to lie. The hunters skirt the 

 border of a patch of these bushes and 

 the dogs are sent in. The dogs soon 

 drive the hares from cover when they 

 become a ready mark for the gunners. 

 Where the ground is rocky they will 

 try to hide by running into any hole or 

 crevice which may offer protection. 

 In hounding hares the hunters are 

 stationed at various points on the paths 

 as the hares, like deer and foxes, follow 

 regular beaten tracks. The hounds 

 start the game from belts of pine, 

 cedar, or hemlock. Each hunter waits 

 for the animals to pass his station and 

 fires at them as they go by at full run. 

 It is considered no mean accomplish- 

 ment to secure a hare under these cir- 

 cumstances. Trapping and snaring are 

 also methods of capturing jack rabbits. 

 They are principally employed by pot 

 hunters, and many people make it their 

 sole business during the winter months. 

 Greyhounds are used in coursing hares, 

 but the jack rabbit frequently discom- 

 fits both horse and hound. Hares do 

 not live in burrows, as is the case with 

 the rabbit, but lie in a form in bush or 

 thicket, a slight depression in the 

 ground serving for a nest, or sometimes 

 a hollow stump, or the under side of a 



