AP r 25 1 
THE AMERICAN RABBIT. 
/^OTTONTAIL and Molly Cot- 
I >r tontail are * ne names com- 
V cJ monly .applied to this easily 
S recognized species of the 
Rabbit family, every- 
where prevalent in the middle states, 
continuing to be numerous in spite of 
the fact that it is constantly hunted in 
season for food. Its flesh is more deli- 
cate than that of the larger species, 
and is much valued. In winter the 
city markets are well supplied with 
Cottontails, their increase beingso large 
that they are always abundant, while 
in rural districts the small boys cap- 
ture them in great numbers with dogs. 
We have known two hundred of these 
innocent creatures to be taken in one 
day on a single farm. If protected for 
but one season they would become as 
Rabbits are in Australia, a pest. 
Rabbits live in burrows, which are 
irregular in construction and often 
communicate with each other. From 
many of its foes the Rabbit escapes 
by diving into its burrow, but there 
are some animals, as the Weasel and 
Ferret, which follow it into its subter- 
ranean home and slay it. Dogs, 
especially those of the small terrier 
breeds, will often force their way into 
the burrows, where they have some- 
times paid the penalty of their lives 
for their boldness. The Rabbit has 
been seen to watch a terrier dog go 
into its burrow, and then fill up the 
entrance so effectually that the invader 
has not been able to retrace his steps, 
and has perished miserably in the 
subterranean tomb. 
When the female Rabbit is about to 
begin to rear a family, she quits the 
ordinary burrows and digs a special 
tunnel in which to shelter the young 
family during the first few weeks of 
life. At the extremity of the burrow she 
places a large quantity of dried herbage 
mingled with down from her own 
body, with which to make a soft and 
warm bed for the little ones. These 
are about seven or eight in number, 
and are born without hair and with 
closed eyes, which they are only able 
to open after ten or twelve days. 
When domesticated the female Rab- 
bit will often devour her young, a 
practice which has been considered 
incurable. This propensity has, how- 
ever, been accounted for by natural 
causes. It has been the custom to 
deprive pet Rabbits of water on the 
the ridiculous plea that in a wild state 
they do not drink, obtaining sufficient 
moisture from the green herbs and 
grasses which constitute their food, 
but in the open country they always 
feed while the dew lies upon every 
blade, which of course is never the 
case with green food with which 
domestic Rabbits are supplied. Thus 
have these poor innocents been the 
victims of ignorance. 
Rabbits are great depredators in 
fields, gardens, and plantations, destroy- 
ing in very wantonness hundreds of 
plants which they do not care to eat. 
They do great damage to young trees, 
stripping them of their tender bark, as 
far up as they can reach while stand- 
ing on their hind feet. Sometimes 
they eat the bark, but in many cases 
they leave it in heaps upon the ground, 
having chiseled it from the tree merely 
for the sake of exercising their teeth 
and keeping them in good order. 
It is true that most Rabbits burrow 
in the ground, their burrows having 
many devious ramifications, but the 
Cottontail usually makes his home in 
a little dug-out, concealed under a bush 
or a tuft of grass. We remember one 
of these little excavations which we 
found in a cemetery concealed by the 
overhanging branches of a rosebush at 
(Continued on page 29.) 
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