Mammal Study 



213 



A cotton-tail rabbit. 



THE COTTON-TAIL RABBIT 



Teacher's Story 



"The Bunnies are a feeble folk whose weakness is their strength. 

 To shun a gun a Bun will run to almost any length." — Oliver Herford. 



T IS well for Molly Cotton-tail and her family that they 

 have learned to shun more than guns for almost every 

 predatory animal and bird makes a dinner of them on 

 every possible occasion. But despite these enemies, 

 moreover, with the addition of guns, men and dogs, 

 the cotton-tail lives and flourishes in our midst. A 

 "Molly' ' raised two families last year in a briar-patch 

 back of our garden on the Cornell Campus, where dogs 

 of many breeds abound; and after each fresh fall of 

 snow this winter we ha.ve been able to ^trace our 

 bunny neighbors in their night wanderings around 

 the house, beneath the spruces and in the orchard. 

 The track consists of two long splashes, paired, 

 and between and a little behind them, two smaller ones; the rabbit 

 uses its front feet as a boy uses a vaulting pole and lands both 

 hind feet on each side and ahead of them; owing to the fact that the 

 bottoms of the feet are hairy the print is not clear-cut. When the rabbit 

 is not in a hurry it has a peculiar lope, but when frightened it makes long 

 Jumps. The cotton-tails are night wanderers and usually remain hidden 

 during the day. In summer, they feed on clover or grass or other juicy 

 herbs and show a fondness for sweet apples and fresh cabbage; in our 



