THE GAME BREEDER 



175 



nest is usually placed in a hollow or de- 

 pression of the ground, often in open 

 fields or meadows. It is composed of 

 dead grass and warmly lined with fur 

 which the female pulls from her own 

 body. The male rabbit takes no part, m 

 •caring for the young, and the female 

 weans them as soon as they are able to 

 leave the nest. These animals breed so 

 rapidly that in spite of many natural en- 

 emies, and of the fact that they are hunt- 

 ed for human food, they often become 

 numerous enough to inflict serious losses 

 on farmers and fruit growers in many 

 parts of the United States. 



Cottontail rabbits eat all sorts of herb- 

 age — leaves, stems, flowers and seeds of 

 herbaceous plants and grasses — and 

 leaves, -buds, bark and fruits of woody 

 plants or trees. They usually prefer the 

 most succulent foods, as young shoots, 

 tender garden vegetables, clover, alfalfa 

 and fallen ripe fruits ; but they exhibit 

 also a remarkable delicacy of taste in 

 their selection of certain varieties of cul- 

 tivated plants and in their neglect of oth- 

 ers of the same species. Prof. C. V. 

 Piper reports that in Oregon rabbits ate 

 Arabian alfalfa down to the ground, 

 while they did little or no damage to 

 other varieties grown in surrounding 

 plats. Prof. C. A. Mooers, of the Ten- 

 nessee agricultural experiment station, 

 reports similar observations in regard to 

 their taste for soy beans, stating that 

 they greatly relish the mammoth yellow 

 variety and that it is practically the only 

 one that suffers from their depredations. 

 When favorite foods are absent rabbits 

 resort to whatever is available. It is 

 during summer droughts or when deep 

 snows cut off ordinary supplies that the 

 animals attack the bark of growing trees 

 or shrubs. 



Cottontail rabbits are valuable for food 

 and afford excellent sport for gunners. 

 In many states, especially east of the Mis- 

 sissippi River, they are protected as 

 game. In fruit-growing and truck-farm- 

 ing districts farmers regard them with 

 disfavor, and there is considerable riv- 

 alry between sportsmen and farmers to 

 have their opposing views reflected in 

 game laws. The interests of the two 

 classes do not seriously differ, however, 



for when rabbits are closely hunted losses 

 from their depredations are usually re- 

 duced to a minimum. Still there is dan- 

 ger that in years favorable for their in- 

 crease the animals may inflict serious 

 injury to trees during severe winters. 



Rabbits are protected (1915) by close 

 seasons in states and, provinces. Twen- 

 ty-eight states, Alaska and the Canadian 

 provinces do not protect rabbits of any 

 kind. In the District of Columbia all 

 shooting is prohibited except on certain 

 river marshes. In Kentucky rabbits may . 

 be taken with dog, trap or snare at any 

 time, and the close season for shooting 

 is evidently solely for the purpose of 

 keeping gunners out of fields and woods 

 during the two months immediately pre- 

 ceding the open season for quails. In 

 Wisconsin forty-six counties, mostly in 

 the southern half of the state, have no 

 close season for rabbits. In California 

 only cottontails, or bush rabbits, are 

 protected. 



In about half the states that have a 

 close season for rabbits the laws permit 

 farmers and fruit growers to destroy the 

 animals to protect crops or trees. Such 

 provision might well be incorporated in 

 game laws of all states. For lack of it 

 farmers have sometimes suffered severe 

 losses, and not a few have been com- 

 pelled to pay fines for trying to protect 

 their property from rabbits. In states 

 that protect rabbits it is well for the 

 farmer to be acquainted with the game 

 laws and in case of doubt to have a clear 

 understanding with local and state game 

 wardens before undertaking to destroy 

 rabbits. 



Among the agencies that help to keep 

 down the numbers of rabbits few are 

 more effective than carnivorous birds 

 and mammals. These inrln^* large 

 hawks and owls, eagles, coyotes, wild- 

 cats, foxes, minks, weasels, dogs and 

 cats. Eagles, the larger species of hawks, 

 and all the large and medium-sized owls 

 make rabbits a great part of their food. 

 From the standpoint of the farmer and 

 fruit grower these birds and certain 

 carnivorous mammals are far more bene- 

 ficial than harmful. On the other hand, 

 poultry growers and sportsmen regard 

 them as enemies to be destroyed when- 



