6o THE RABBIT 



upon the suitability or otherwise of the ground 

 selected the success of the undertaking will,' in a 

 great measure, depend. A stiff clay soil, for example, 

 is very undesirable ; nor can rabbits burrow properly 

 where the ground is too rocky. What suits them 

 best is a light sandy soil, and peaty ground, as on 

 moorlands, will do well enough provided it does not 

 lie so low as to become flooded after heavy rain, in 

 which case, of course, the young rabbits would be 

 drowned, and the older ones driven out of house and 

 home. 'Burrows in flat ground,' says Mr. Simpson of 

 Wortley, ' are the cause of serious loss, for during 

 heavy and sudden rains, the holes become reservoirs 

 into which the water quickly drains, and drowns the 

 youngrabbits.' In an old warren in his neighbourhood, 

 which is level — and where the rabbits are forced to 

 burrow on the flat surface — not a year passes without 

 serious loss from drowning. Two years in succession 

 it was reckoned that nearly the whole of the first 

 brood was lost. After a storm every burrow would 

 be full of water, and numbers of very young rabbits 

 might be seen lying dead, floated out at the mouths 

 of the holes. 



Hilly, sloping, or undulating ground, with a light 

 soil, is what one would naturally select if available ; 

 failing this, heavy land may be treated in such a way 



