202 Wild Life in a Southern County 



the upper ground from one bury to another. In time 

 thirst will drive him to wander ; there is no water near 

 this dry, sandy, and rather elevated spot, and blood causes 

 great thirst. Then he will roam across the open, and by- 

 and-by reach the hedges, where in the ditch some water is 

 sure to be found in winter, when ferreting is carried on. 

 So that, if a ferret has been lost some time, it is better to 

 look for him round the adjacent hedges than in the warren. 



Long after leaving the bury it is as well to look to your 

 footsteps, because of solitary rabbit-holes hidden by the 

 grass growing up round and even over them. If the foot 

 sinks unexpectedly into one of these, a sprained ankle or 

 even a broken bone may result. Most holes have sand 

 round the mouth, and may therefore be seen even in the 

 dusk ; but there are others also used which have no sand 

 at the mouth, the grass growing at the very edge. Those 

 that have sand have been excavated from without, from 

 above ; those that have not, have been opened from below. 

 The rabbit has pushed his way up from an old bury, so that 

 the sand he dug fell down behind him into the larger hole. 



The same thing may be seen in banks, though then the 

 holes worked from within are not so much concealed by 

 grass. These holes are always very much smaller than the 

 others, some so small that one might doubt how a rabbit 

 could force his body through them. The reason why the 

 other tunnels appear so much larger is because the rabbit 

 has no means of ' shoring ' up his excavation with planks 

 and timbers, and no ' cage ' with which to haul up the 

 sand he has moved; so that he must make the mouth 

 wider than is required for the passage of his body, in order 

 to get the stuff out behind him. He can really creep 

 through a much smaller aperture. At night especially, 

 when walking near a bury situate in the open field, beware 



