BREEDING HABITS. 25 



In view of tliese facts it may be worth while, before considering the 

 subject of depredations or the methods used in extermination, to dwell 

 somewhat on the way in which these rabbits contrive to hold their own 

 under apparently great disadvantages and when exposed to attacks of 

 every kind. Naturally their breeding habits and the rate at which the 

 animals increase should be considered in this connection. 



BREEDING HABITS. 



The breeding habits of the Old World hare and rabbit are well 

 known and have been determined repeatedly by observations on ani- 

 mals kept in confinement, so that the period of gestation, the number 

 of young in a litter, the number of litters born in a year, and the age 

 at which each species begins to breed are known with considerable 

 accuracy. According to Sir Kichard Owen, the period of gestation in 

 the Old World hare {Lepus timidus) and the rabbit {Leptis cuniculus) 

 varies from thirty to thirty-one days, and it is i)robably much the same 

 in the case of our native species. The common European rabbit breeds 

 from four to eight times a year and the number of young varies from 

 3 to 8 in each litter; it begins to breed when only 6 months old and 

 attains an age of 7 or 8 years. ^ 



The breeding habits of the various jack rabbits are so much alike 

 that the account of those of any one species will serve as an illustration 

 of the others. The following description is taken from Dr. Coues' paper 

 on the Prairie Hare in Montana, to which reference has already been 

 made : 



In the regions where I have studied this hare, the female brings forth in June and 

 early Julj' — oftener the latter — and apparently only one litter is produced each 

 season. The number of young is 5 or 6, as a rule. The form is simply constructed, 

 without burrowing, in the grass beneath some low, thick bush or tuft of weeds. 

 The young are said to suckle and follow the mother for a month or more. They are 

 agile little creatures, even when only a week or two old, and it is only when very 

 young that they can be caught by hand. In traveling along the Milk Eiver f where 

 the species was abundant), early in July, 1 had several little ones brought to me, and 

 some I kept for a time in a box. * ^ ^ Though only 5 or 6 inches long, they had 

 all the motions and attitudes characteristic of the parents, and made shift to run 

 about quite cleverly. They could not eat, but some of them could be coaxed to lick 

 a little milk. (Bull. Essex Inst., VII, 1875, p. 81.) 



Much still remains to be learned in regard to the number of young 

 per annum, the exact time when they are born and particularly the num- 

 ber of litters per year. The interest in this subject is not restricted to 

 the naturalist, for it is a matter of practical importance to the orchardist 

 or the farmer to know when his efforts at extermination will be most 

 effective. 



Numler of young in a Utter. — Compared with the domesticated rabbit 

 the jack rabbit does not increase very rapidly. Writers, however, 

 differ widely concerning the number of young and the frequency with 

 which the different species breed. Most of the statements seem to be 



'Flower &, Lydekker, Mammals Living and Extinct, 1891, p. 494. 



