﻿72 
  

  

  THE 
  VEETEBEATE 
  FAUNA 
  OF 
  "DEE." 
  

  

  to 
  pass 
  on 
  undigested, 
  and 
  diverging 
  into 
  the 
  caecal 
  

   appendage, 
  accumulates 
  there, 
  and 
  swells 
  out 
  that 
  organ 
  to 
  

   ten 
  times 
  its 
  natural 
  size, 
  the 
  ultimate 
  result 
  being 
  death. 
  

   From 
  this 
  cause 
  alone, 
  some 
  warrens 
  have 
  been 
  almost 
  

   depleted, 
  and 
  the 
  only 
  chance 
  of 
  saving 
  the 
  remainder 
  has 
  

   been 
  to 
  remove 
  them 
  to 
  fresh 
  ground 
  where 
  abundance 
  of 
  

   good 
  food 
  could 
  be 
  obtained. 
  

  

  Notwithstanding 
  the 
  large 
  numbers 
  of 
  this 
  animal 
  in 
  

   Scotland, 
  and 
  the 
  favourable 
  opportunities 
  thus 
  afforded 
  of 
  

   studying 
  their 
  life 
  history, 
  it 
  would 
  seem 
  that 
  this 
  is 
  not 
  yet 
  

   properly 
  understood. 
  The 
  immense 
  fecundity 
  of 
  the 
  Babbit 
  

   has 
  long 
  been 
  known, 
  but 
  its 
  fruitfulness 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  far 
  

   greater 
  than 
  most 
  people 
  imagine. 
  My 
  friend, 
  Mr. 
  John 
  

   M'Bain, 
  who 
  was 
  for 
  many 
  years 
  head 
  keeper 
  to 
  Lord 
  

   Aberdeen, 
  informed 
  me 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  taken 
  fourteen 
  young 
  

   from 
  one 
  Rabbit, 
  and 
  in 
  other 
  instances 
  he 
  has 
  found 
  two 
  

   distinct 
  litters 
  within 
  the 
  same 
  female, 
  one 
  lot 
  being 
  no 
  

   larger 
  than 
  mice, 
  while 
  the 
  others 
  were 
  ready 
  for 
  birth. 
  This 
  

   statement 
  has 
  been 
  substantiated 
  by 
  many 
  keepers 
  with 
  

   whom 
  I 
  have 
  conversed, 
  and 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  the 
  same 
  myself. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  N. 
  S. 
  A. 
  of 
  Kincardineshire 
  (1843), 
  parish 
  of 
  Fordoun, 
  

   it 
  is 
  said 
  : 
  " 
  Rabbits 
  were 
  introduced 
  into 
  the 
  county 
  about 
  

   twenty 
  years 
  ago, 
  and 
  now 
  cause 
  more 
  destruction 
  to 
  the 
  

   crops 
  than 
  all 
  other 
  descriptions 
  of 
  game 
  in 
  the 
  county. 
  

   To 
  extinguish 
  them 
  seems 
  hopeless, 
  and 
  the 
  calls 
  for 
  com- 
  

   pensation 
  by 
  the 
  tenantry 
  for 
  the 
  injury 
  caused 
  by 
  them 
  are 
  

   neither 
  infrequent 
  nor 
  unjust." 
  

  

  Of 
  the 
  parish 
  of 
  Banchory-Ternan, 
  N. 
  S. 
  A., 
  p. 
  333, 
  we 
  are 
  

   told 
  that 
  " 
  Rabbits 
  are 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  almost 
  unknown 
  till 
  

   a 
  few 
  from 
  a 
  distance 
  were 
  placed 
  on 
  the 
  islands 
  of 
  Dee 
  about 
  

   thirty 
  years 
  ago. 
  They 
  passed 
  over 
  the 
  ice 
  in 
  winter, 
  and 
  

   have 
  now 
  become 
  everywhere 
  so 
  numerous 
  as 
  to 
  render 
  their 
  

   destruction 
  necessary." 
  

  

  It 
  would 
  thus 
  seem 
  that 
  the 
  animal 
  has 
  been 
  a 
  source 
  of 
  

   loss 
  and 
  annoyance 
  since 
  its 
  first 
  appearance 
  in 
  this 
  country, 
  

   as 
  it 
  is 
  proviug 
  itself 
  to 
  be 
  in 
  others. 
  

  

  Notwithstanding 
  the 
  many 
  foregoing 
  references 
  to 
  the 
  

   recent 
  introduction 
  of 
  the 
  Rabbit 
  into 
  " 
  Dee," 
  it 
  is 
  evident 
  

   that 
  it 
  has 
  existed 
  in 
  some 
  districts 
  within 
  our 
  limits 
  for 
  a 
  

   very 
  long 
  time 
  ; 
  for 
  in 
  the 
  Udny 
  Charter 
  Chest 
  is 
  a 
  letter 
  

   from 
  " 
  Schir 
  Robert 
  Egew, 
  Chaiplan 
  to 
  My 
  Lord 
  Sinclair" 
  

  

  