78 



WILD ANIMALS OF GLACIER NATIONAL PARK. 



and bark, and few animals are better adapted to deep snow and 

 rigorous winter climates than these densely furred and well-shod 

 snowshoe rabbits. The long coarse hairs of the feet spread and help 

 carry them over the surface of even the soft snows, M'hile over well- 

 packed or crusted snows they scamper with evident enjoyment and 

 wonderful speed. 



Their mating time is early in spring, and the four to six young, 

 born in May or June, are soon big enough to pick tender green vege- 

 tation as a part of their food. When first born they are well- 

 furred, perfect little rabbits with sharp incisor teeth and open 

 eyes, and of such a soft, shadowy, woodsy color that it would seem 

 they must defy the keenest eyes of owl or fox. About the time of 



the first snows in autumn the 

 white hair begins to appear 

 through their coats and they are 

 at first grizzled and mottled, but 

 later, as the whole world about 

 them becomes pure white, they 

 rapidly acquire the full white coat 

 of winter. 



Thej^ do not become fat or hiber- 

 nate, but seem always to be plump 

 and healthy, and for food are 

 among the most delicious of all 

 the rabbits. Their arch enemy, 

 the Canada Ij'nx, is also common 

 throughout this region and prob- 

 ably more than any other animal 

 keeps their numbers down to a minimum. Hawks, owls, foxes, and 

 coyotes occasionally prey upon them but often are unable to capture 

 them, either by stealth or in a test of speed. 



Prairie Jack Eabbit; Lepus townsendi campanius Hollister. — 

 These big white-tailed jack rabbits with gray summer and pure 

 vrhite winter coats are common over the Plains along the eastern side 

 of the park and extend in open areas up to the edge of the timber. 

 In the Museum of Comparative Zoology, at Cambridge, there is a 

 specimen collected by Dr. Coues, August 16, 1874, and labeled Chief 

 Mountain. This may have come from the open countiy at the base 

 of Chief Mountain or from the Belly River valley, but as the park 

 line cuts through the middle of the mountain there is some doubt as 

 to whether it was collected in the park or outside. Rabbits are most 

 likely to be seen along the stage road to St. Mary, or from St. Mary 

 around to the Swiftcurrent Valley or in the open parks along Belly 

 River. 



Photo, by Norman McClintock. lOisM 



If'iG. 13. — Northern white-tailed jack- 

 rabbit, photographed at Fort Yellow- 

 stone in March, 1017. 



