96 THE ARCTIC PRAIRIES 



rily superabundant that they threaten their own food 

 supply as well as poison all the ground. A new influ- 

 ence appears on the scene; it is commonly called the 

 plague, though it is not one disease but many run 

 epidemic riot, and, in a few weeks usually, the Rabbits 

 are wiped out. 



This is an outline of the established routine in Rab- 

 bit vital statistics. It, of course, varies greatly in every 

 detail, including time and extent of territory involved, 

 and when the destruction is complete it is an awful 

 thing for the carnivores that have lived on the bunny 

 millions and multiplied in ratio with their abundance. 

 Of all the northern creatures none are more dependent 

 on the Rabbits than is the Canada Lynx. It lives on 

 Rabbits, follows the Rabbits, thinks Rabbits, tastes 

 like Rabbits, increases with them, and on their failure 

 dies of starvation in the unrabbited woods. 



It must have been a Hibernian familiar with the 

 north that said: "A Lynx is nothing but an animated 

 Rabbit anyway." 



The Rabbits of the Mackenzie River Valley reached 

 their flood height in the winter of 1903-4. That 

 season, it seems, they actually reached billions. 



Late the same winter the plague appeared, but did 

 not take them at one final swoop. Next winter they 

 were still numerous, but in 1907 there seemed not one 

 Rabbit left alive in the country. All that summer we 

 sought for them and inquired for them. We saw signs 

 of millions in the season gone by; everywhere were 

 acres of saplings barked at the snow-line ; the floor of 

 the woods, in all parts visited, was pebbled over with 



