THE GRAY RABBIT OR COTTONTAIL. 



[Lepus sylvaticus.) 



None of our wild animals are better 

 known than our wild rabbits. Nearly 

 every schoolboy and every hunter is fam- 

 iliar with their appearance and with their 

 habits. In their distribution, in one form 

 or another, they are nearly cosmopolitan. 

 In our own country they are found from 

 the polar regions of the North to the 

 regions of luxuriant vegetation in the 

 South. Their long hind legs, fitted for 

 jumping; their long ears and their large 

 bright eyes ; their short stumpy, 

 upturned tail and long, soft hair, mark 

 them from all other animals and place 

 them in a group by themselves. Though 

 the wild rabbits of the United States are 

 not rabbits at all, but hares, it is useless 

 to try to change the application of a 

 name that has become so fixed and so 

 popular. Our domestic form is truly a 

 rabbit and has its origin in the European 

 rabbit, which is the parent stock of all 

 other domestic varieties. The true rab- 

 bit, in its wild state, inhabits a burrow, 

 while all the species of hares, excepting 

 one which inhabits northern India, 

 usually make a nest either in the grass 

 and other herbage of the open country 

 or among rocks and in shrubby fields. 

 The hares also are solitary, while the 

 true rabbits are eminently gregarious. 

 The rabbits also have not the speed of 

 the hares ; they are of smaller size, and 

 have relatively shorter ears. Their hind 

 legs, too, show only a comparatively 

 slight elongation. Hares and rabbits 

 differ from nearly all the other rodents, 

 or gnawing animals, in having the soles 

 of their feet not bare but covered with 

 hair. This characteristic accounts for 

 the well known fact that these animals 

 do not leave a foot-print that is well 

 defined. 



The nest of the hare is known as its 

 form and the animal forages from it 



following well-beaten paths, often used 

 in common with its fellows. During the 

 greater part of the year the hare returns 

 to its form either day by day or at longer 

 intervals by the beaten pathway. This 

 habit is rather opposed to the best inter- 

 ests of the hare, for predacious animals 

 are known to take advantage of it in 

 their search for food. In "American 

 Animals" Mr. Witmer Stone says : "In 

 winter the goshawk has a habit of fol- 

 lowing these paths on foot in a most 

 unhawk-like manner, especially where 

 they are arched over by bushes that 

 might prevent the hawks from pouncing 

 down from above, and I believe that it is 

 done with the intention of driving the 

 rabbits out into the open woods where, 

 perchance, the hawk's mate is waiting to 

 seize them, for goshawks usually hunt in 

 pairs throughout the winter." 



The Gray Rabbit or Cottontail is prob- 

 ably the most abundant species of the 

 hare family. It, perhaps, has more right 

 to the name rabbit than any of the other 

 North American species, for its habits 

 are somewhat similar to those of the true 

 rabbit of Europe. It frequently makes its 

 nest in hollow trees or it may appropriate 

 the deserted burrows of other animals. 

 In the northern part of its range, it is 

 inclined to dig quite a deep burrow, but 

 the southern form of the species is con- 

 tent with a shallow depression near a 

 root or log. 



The Gray Rabbit is easily tamed and 

 in confinement does not seem to be 

 alarmed when petted. Its home is in 

 the woods and for this reason it is often 

 called the Wood Rabbit. While it pre- 

 fers woods of low growth or dense 

 areas of shrubs, it is also at home in any 

 kind of woods. It may be often seen 

 along country roadsides, where the iso- 

 lated clumps of bushes are frequent. It 



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