THE HARES-HARES PROPER. 



375 



are few, but where there are a great many Hares, 

 coursing in this manner becomes a mere butchery. 

 Shooting a Hare after having successfully stalked 

 the game is the reward of skill and most worthy of a 

 sportsman. 

 Adaptability of Captive Hares are easily tamed, be- 



Harea to Con- come readily used to all kinds of 

 flnement. nourishment with which one feeds 

 Rabbits, but are very delicate and apt to die. If 

 they are fed only on hay, bread, oats and water, and 

 never anything green, they live longer. If young 

 Leverets are put with old Hares they are always 

 bitten and killed by the latter. Other weak animals 

 rarely fare any better. I once found a killed and 

 half-eaten Rat in the warren of Hares committed to 

 my care. With Guinea Pigs Hares agree perfectly. 



According to an account of the "Jagdzeitung," 

 Mr. Fuchs in Wildenberg had a tame Hare in his 



itself to the soil and climate according to circum- 

 stances; peculiar variations occur, however. The 

 Alpine Hares are of a pure white in winter, only the 

 tips of the ears being black; in summer they are 

 uniformly grayish brown, lacking the mottled ap- 

 pearance of the Common Hare. The Irish Hares, 

 which are very similar, are said never to become 

 white and are therefore considered a distinct species 

 {Lepus hibemicus) by some authorities. On the other 

 hand, the Polar Hares living in the highest latitudes 

 undergo no modification of color in summer, and are 

 therefore also held to be an independent species 

 {Lepus glacialis). The Scandinavian Hares, all of 

 which belong to this species, are also different: 

 some of them turn white, excepting their black ear 

 tips, while others do not change. The roots of their 

 fur are slate gray, the middle dingy reddish brown 

 and the tips white. This coloring seems to be 



r~. —Jl rr ' 



THE COUMON HABE, ^The typical animal of its family inhabiting the central portion of the European Continent and Great Britain 



Its long ears are a prominent feature and its shape and general structure fit it for running and it is known as one of the fleetest of mammals The 

 animals are admirably drawn in this picture, which represents one of the species moving lapidly over the snowy ground (Lepus vtdgar-s ) 



possession which, slept and ate with his Dogs and 

 won the special affection of a young Setter. This 

 Hare ate vegetable food only in default of meat; 

 veal, pork, liver and sausage caused it to go into 

 such raptures that it used to execute a regular dance 

 to get at these dainties. 



Besides the flesh, which as food is justly es- 

 teemed, the fur is also put to account The skin is 

 deprived of its hair, tanned and used in the manu- 

 facture of shoes, of one kind of parchment, and of 

 glue; the hair is used in the manufacture of felt. 



Tiie Alpine and It is still an undecided question 



the Polar whether the Varying or Alpine Hare 



Hares. and the Arctic or Polar Hare of 



high latitudes are properly of the same variety. In 



general both prove themselves to be true children 



of their native country. Their fur accommodates 



purely fortuitous, however; at least it is maintained 

 that different Hares of one litter often exhibit the 

 two colors indiscriminately. 

 The Alpine Hare The Alpine or Varying Hare {Lepus- 

 —its Pecul- timidus or Lepus variabilis) differs 

 iarities. distinctly from the Common Hare in 



anatomical structure and in disposition. Tschudi 

 says: "It is more cheerful, livelier, bolder; its head 

 is shorter, stouter, more curved in its outlines; it has 

 a shorter nose, smaller ears, broader cheeks; the hind 

 legs are longer, the soles of the feet more heavily 

 covered with fur; the paws provided with deeply 

 cleft toes capable of much extension, and armed 

 with long-pointed, curved, retractile claws. The 

 eyes are not pink, like those of white Rabbits, white 

 Squirrels and white Mice, but of a darker brown 

 than those of the Common Hare. 



