HOUSE AND GARDEN | 
April, 
1913 
309 
Your Animal Neighbors 
(Continued from page 289) 
seen water or solid food of any kind, 
washed crackers in a pail of water the first 
time they were given the opportunity. I 
have had many raccoons under observa¬ 
tion, and if captured young they take to 
captivity much better than do most ani¬ 
mals ; they are like their relatives the bears 
in this respect. Usually they are very gen¬ 
tle—even affectionate—but sometimes, ap¬ 
parently without cause, they will take a dis¬ 
like to one, and it has been my experience 
that after that they are not to be trusted. 
The most severe biting I have ever re¬ 
ceived was given me by a raccoon with 
whom I had once been on the friendliest 
terms, and I had done nothing that I knew 
of to merit his change of heart. For all 
his winning ways and his charming family, 
the raccoon is a thief who must be reck¬ 
oned with by those who keep poultry; but 
as he usually takes his toll at night and 
from the henhouse, a little forethought will 
prevent any trouble with him. 
A sweet-faced little neighbor with whom 
we can hardly live on anything but pleas¬ 
ant terms is the gray rabbit. Shy as a 
schoolgirl, Bunny is not really very much 
afraid of us unless we are quite thought¬ 
less of her comfort. I am very good 
friends with a bright-eyed little rabbit 
who lives in the woods near my house. In 
the evening she comes out into the lane, 
doubtless to nibble the clover and perhaps 
to enjoy the view as well. Sometimes as I 
am coming home at dusk, I suddenly feel 
my Great Dane stiffen at my side and look¬ 
ing ahead some fifty yards, I will see 
Bunny squatting in the middle of the road. 
I speak to my dog, who looks up into my 
face, then back at the rabbit, and finally 
turns his honest old face away as if to 
avoid the terrible temptation to throw obe¬ 
dience to the winds. And Bunny sits tight 
until we are almost upon her, when she 
hops unhastily along in front of us, then 
turns and disappears within the bushes at 
the side of the road. As we go past I peer 
into the shadows, and one shadow, deeper 
than the rest, is shaped like a squatting 
rabbit. The back is toward us, but I know 
that she knows that I know she’s there. 
In the daytime Bunny lives under an old 
brush pile in the woods, and I seldom go 
into those woods without stepping over to 
see her. Usually the first thing that be¬ 
trays her immediate presence is her very 
bright eye, gleaming through the twigs. 
Then I see her soft gray body, lying in a 
little hollow in the brown leaves. I never 
disturb her, but tiptoe softly away again, 
just glad to know that my little neighbor 
is well and probably happy. In the winter 
I often help her out a bit with a carrot or 
some cabbage leaves, and she seldom finds 
it necessary to gnaw the bark of the fruit 
trees. As for the vegetable garden, it is 
understood that she may come in there oc¬ 
casionally, and though she does nibble the 
vegetables a bit, she’s very welcome to the 
little she takes. 
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