18 



THE GAME BREEDER 



quality of their fur, perfection can soon 

 be reached. 



The Black Siberian Hare is indigenous 

 to Siberia. The animal therefore, re- 

 quires a thick, rough pelt, and close 

 warm fur to protect it from the cold of 

 its native country. In fact, its skin is 

 as thick as that of muskrat, mink or 

 marten, and its fur is a rich glossy black. 

 Sometimes, however, a silver gray will 

 appear. 



As the Black Siberian comes from a 

 country that has a decided summer and 

 winter, he does not continue changing 

 his coat all through the summer, and 

 partly so through the winter, as do rab- 

 bits and hares bred for numerous gen- 

 erations in mild climates. In the latter 

 case the skin of the rabbit or hare is 

 almost useless. 



The Black Siberian Hare, like other 

 good furbearing animals, has a light 

 summer coat. This he changes in the 

 fall for a thick, black, winter coat (some- 

 times silver gray). The skin then is in 

 season and is very valuable, whether 

 black or silver gray. 



This Black Siberian Hare is of enor- 

 mous size, maturing so rapidly that at 

 six months a good specimen will weigh 

 ten pounds. The flesh is delicious, be- 

 ing between the flavor of chicken and 

 that of spring lamb. This animal is also 

 very hardy. It can stand the severest 

 winter without any protection from cold. 

 It will breed as freely as common rab- 

 bits and its young grow much faster, 

 being at three months old, the size of 

 a full-grown Belgian Hare. They are 

 more spritely and active than a common 

 rabbit, can jump five feet high and 

 therefore require a high fence to en- 

 close them. 



In appearance these hares are long, 

 round in the body, and quite tall. They 

 stand more upright than the common 

 rabbit, being more deer-like, especially 

 when running. 



In color they resemble the Black Fox ; 

 the great majority are black, but oc- 

 casionally a handsome silver gray ap- 

 pears, as is also the case among Black - 

 Foxes. 



At present the Black Siberian Hare is 



very rare in America. Only a few pairs 

 have as yet been imported to North 

 America. They are not even numerous 

 in Siberia, being found wild only in a 

 few places and those in dense swamps 

 where the animal has no protection from 

 beasts of prey. This last fact prevents 

 them from becoming numerous. Thus, 

 it is evident that they have not been al- 

 lowed to increase fast, even though their 

 reproductive power is so great when they 

 are protected from their enemies. 



One of the Black Fox Fur Companies 

 has imported a few of these Black Si- 

 berian Hares with the idea of breeding 

 them in conjunction with Black Foxes. 

 They hope to utilize the flesh of the hare 

 to feed the foxes, and at the same time 

 receive a handsome profit from the skins. 



Let us now compare the Black Siberi- 

 an Hare with the Black Fox: 



The Black Siberian Hare is as large 

 if not larger than the Black Fox. The 

 Black Fox is a carniverous animal and 

 each one eats about twenty-five dollars 

 ($25.00) worth of meat in a year. The 

 Black Siberian Hare, being a herbiver- 

 ous animal, can be fed for a year at a 

 cost of eighty cents ($.80). 



The Black Fox is a monogamist and 

 a male must be kept for every female. 

 Even then they sometimes fail to mate. 

 The Black Siberian Hare, however, is a 

 polygamist and one male will serve 

 twenty or more females. 



The Black Fox breeds but once a 

 year, and even this once is very uncer- 

 tain. The Black Siberian Hare, with 

 good management will breed almost 

 every month in the year and in each lit- 

 ter there are more young than in one 

 litter of the Black Fox. 



Therefore it can be readily seen that' 

 although the fur of this hare is not so 

 valuable as that of the Black Fox, still, 

 breeding the Black Siberian Hare for its 

 fur gives the owner far more satisfac- 

 tion and has many advantages over 

 breeding Black Foxes. 



Besides, all thinking people now real- 

 ize that the vast prairies of the North- 

 west, that pastured thousands of cattle 

 and sheep free of cost to their owners, 

 have been claimed by human settlers and 



