384* 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



THE ANTELOPE JACK RABBIT (Lepus 

 alleni and its relatives) 



(I' or illustration, see page 404) 



The antelope, or Allen, jack rabbit is one of 

 the most picturesque of American mammals. 

 It is larger than the common western jack 

 rabbit and is strongly characterized by enor- 

 mous ears, long, slender legs, short tail, and 

 contrasting colors. It is a member of the 

 white-sided group of jack rabbits, which are 

 distinguished by the extension of the white of 

 the underparts well up on the sides of the body. 



This group is represented in limited areas on 

 our southern border by two species. One of 

 these, the Gailliard jack rabbit (Lepus gail- 

 liardi), occurs on the grassy plains of extreme 

 southwestern New Mexico and is succeeded 

 by other white-sided species southward across 

 the Mexican tableland and through interior 

 Oaxaca to the Pacific coast, on the Isthmus of 

 Tehuantepec. The other species, the antelope 

 jack rabbit, occupies a considerable area in 

 southwestern Arizona, and with its geographic 

 races ranges southward through the coastal 

 plains of Sonora and Sinaloa to northern 

 Tepic. 



All jack rabbits are more or less closely re- 

 lated to the Old World hares, the term "rabbit" 

 having been so generally misapplied to them by 

 the early settlers in the western United States 

 that the name is now fixed by current usage. 

 In Mexico and among the Mexicans of our 

 southwestern border the propter distinction is 

 made and the jack rabbit is termed licbre, or 

 hare, and cottontail is called conejo, or rabbit. 



The white-sided species are more widely dif- 

 ferentiated from their Old World relatives 

 than the other jack rabbits and are the south- 

 ernmost representatives of the true hares in 

 America, reaching their limit in the tropics a 

 little beyond the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. 



The extension of the white on the sides of 

 these species assists in producing one of the 

 most extraordinary examples of directive col- 

 oration known among mammals. I had the 

 pleasure of discovering this one day in May, 

 1895, when hunting on horseback over the 

 grassy plain bordering the Pacific coast of the 

 Isthmus of Tehuantepec. As I rode slowly 

 along, a big jack rabbit hopped deliberately 

 from its form in the grass a few yards away, 

 and by the contraction of a special set of mus- 

 cles along the back drew the dark-colored dor- 

 sal area forward and together so that it formed 

 only a narrow band on the middle of the back, 

 with a corresponding extension of the white 

 area on the rump and sides until, as the animal 

 moved diagonally away, it looked almost en- 

 tirely white. 



At a distance of fifty or sixty yards it came 

 to a stop, and expanded and contracted the 

 dark dorsal area, thus producing a "flashing" 

 effect with the changing area of white on the 

 sides and rump. This solved the riddle of the 

 mirror-like white flashes I had often seen as 

 jack rabbits on the tableland had dashed away 



in the brilliant sunshine. The same habit of 

 "flashing" the white was afterwards observed 

 in the species of southwestern New Mexico and 

 southwestern Arizona, demonstrating the ap- 

 propriateness of the name, "antelope jack rab- 

 bit," given them by the ranchmen. 



Formerly the antelope jack rabbit of Arizona 

 was common on the plains about Tneson, 

 where man)- were shot for rifle practice. They 

 are now comparatively scarce in that district, 

 and are never so excessively abundant as the 

 common species of the West now and then 

 becomes. They have an extraordinary appear- 

 ance as, with their great ears erect, they stand 

 poised on their long, thin legs. When alarmed, 

 they leap away with amazing celerity in long, 

 high bounds. They are usually much more 

 shy and alert than the common jack rabbits 

 and at times are far more difficult to stalk than 

 antelope. A peculiarly appropriate setting to 

 this remarkable species is found in the strange 

 and wonderful growth of giant cactuses, yuccas, 

 creosote bushes, fouquerias, palo vcrde, and 

 other desert vegetation of the plains in Arizona 

 and Sonora. 



Like other hares, the antelope jack rabbits 

 occupy forms under bushes or in the shelter of 

 little patches of coarse vegetation. The only 

 exception to this rule I have seen was west of 

 the city of Guadalajara, on the Mexican table- 

 land. There one summer day, in the midst of 

 a lovely open valley covered with short, velvety 

 green grass and dotted with scattered acacia 

 bushes, a caracara eagle suddenly swooped 

 down upon a young white-sided jack rabbit. In 

 mortal terror the little beast dashed away at 

 great speed, the caracara casting at it repeat- 

 edly from a height of fifteen or twenty feet 

 and each time striking the ground just behind. 

 The young animal ran not less than five hun- 

 dred yards, straight for a little bush on a small 

 bank, where it vanished as by magic. 



The caracara was close behind and, alight- 

 ing, ran round and round the trunk of 

 the bush, craning its neck and apparently as 

 surprised as myself at this sudden disappear- 

 ance. Riding over to investigate, I found, 

 partly concealed by coarse grass, the entrance 

 of a burrow large enough to admit an adult 

 jack rabbit. It extended almost horizontally 

 into the bank for about eighteen inches, and 

 then, turning abruptly to the left, ended in a 

 rounded chamber some fifteen inches in diam- 

 eter, in which the young jack rabbit lay snugly 

 ensconced. It appeared altogether probable 

 that this burrow had been made by the old 

 jack rabbit as a shelter for her young, one of 

 which in its extreme need had again sought 

 asylum there. 



White-sided jack rabbits are frequently 

 found in pairs, occupying forms in close prox- 

 imity to one another. More rarely several 

 may be found in a small area. When driven 

 from the forms, they often run in a wide circle, 

 and in the course of half an hour or more 

 may be detected returning slyly and watchfully 

 from a direction nearly opposite to that in 

 which they departed. 



