THE NORTHERN PRAIRIE HARE. 
THIS is the most northern species 
of the group of hares {Lepus 
campestris), familiarly known in 
the United States as jack rab- 
bits because of their large size and 
enormous ears. They are lively ani- 
mals of astounding jumping powers. 
In America there is no such distinction 
between the term "hare" and "rabbit" 
as there is in Europe, where the large, 
long-eared, stout varieties, living in 
shallow "forms," are named hares, and 
the smaller and more slender kind, 
which digs a deep burrow, is the "rab- 
bit." In this country the authorities 
say that no well-defined distinction 
exists. Of the so-called jack rabbits 
the northern prairie hare here depicted 
may be taken as the type. It is one of 
the largest species of hares, measuring 
about twenty inches in length, and it 
has long, strong, and vigorous limbs, 
and such remarkably long ears that the 
popular name it bears is fully justified. 
This northern species is found on 
the western prairies from British 
America to Colorado. It undergoes a 
winter change of coat, becoming nearly 
white, but the blanching is never com- 
plete and russet streaks or patches re- 
main through the winter. The habits 
of this animal are those of hares in 
general, and all the species known as 
jack rabbits are famous for their great 
speed and for the astounding leaps 
they , make in running. They are the 
most fleet and agile of American mam- 
mals. They are not much pursued for 
the reason that they are difficult to 
shoot, and their celerity of movement 
enables them to elude four-footed foes 
also. Pending the complete change 
from the summer brown to the snowy- 
white coat of winter, the animal pre- 
sents a very singular mottled appear- 
ance. 
Hares are a very important article of 
commerce and, during the winter sea- 
son, tons of them are daily shipped to 
the principal markets from all quarters. 
They are sold at cheap rates, and are 
frequently peddled about the streets 
by the cartload at surprisingly low 
figures. 
The methods of pursuit and capture 
of these animals are numerous, but the 
most common and successful are trail- 
ing in the snow with dogs, hounding, 
and coursing. To trail hares in the 
winter one must have dogs of keen 
scent and a light fall of from two to 
four inches of snow must have been 
deposited the night previous to an early 
morning start. Two or more hunters 
equipped with dogs 'and guns usually 
start together. Thickets of elder and 
blackberry are sought where the game 
is known to lie. The hunters skirt the 
border of a patch of these bushes and 
the dogs are sent in. The dogs soon 
drive the hares from cover when they 
become a ready mark for the gunners. 
Where the ground is rocky they will 
try to hide by running into any hole or 
crevice which may offer protection. 
In hounding hares the hunters are 
stationed at various points on the paths 
as the hares, like deer and foxes, follow 
regular beaten tracks. The hounds 
start the game from belts of pine, 
cedar, or hemlock. Each hunter waits 
for the animals to pass his station and 
fires at them as they go by at full run. 
It is considered no mean accomplish- 
ment to secure a hare under these cir- 
cumstances. Trapping and snaring are 
also methods of capturing jack rabbits. 
They are principally employed by pot 
hunters, and many people make it their 
sole business during the winter months. 
Greyhounds are used in coursing hares, 
but the jack rabbit frequently discom- 
fits both horse and hound. Hares do 
not live in burrows, as is the case with 
the rabbit, but lie in a form in bush or 
thicket, a slight depression in the 
ground serving for a nest, or sometimes 
a hollow stump, or the under side of a 
