Cottontail rabbit

“ These organized hunts are popular in the West, where they are also varied, in the case of jack rabbits, by what is known as the "rabbit drive." A large territory is surrounded by men and the animals are driven into a corral built of wire netting. While a few cottontails are sometimes included in the catch, these usually find refuge in open burrows or under cover of rocks or brush, so that this method is hardly applicable to them. ”

“ It was intended to make each individual cottontail recognizable in a trap or in the field. Occasionally when a predator had killed and eaten a cottontail the tail and feet remained and, when dyed, they provided important clues to the identity of the individual. However, the color of the feet is not ordinarily discernible in the field while the rabbit is alive. ”

“ The snowshoe rabbit replaces the cottontail in Canada and the most northern portions of the United States. As before mentioned they are larger than the common rabbits and like the northern weasel the color of their fur varies with the seasons. The summer coat is a reddish brown, but when the cold weather comes on in the fall they commence to take on a white color, the fur of the ears and legs being the first to change and in a few weeks the animal will be perfectly white. ”

“ To do justice to the intelligence of the dog, and to be truthful about the rabbit, it must be remembered that, in the chase, Bunny usually has the advantage of knowing the lay of the land. The short cuts, streams, logs, briers, and roads are all in mind before he takes a jump. The dog is often on strange ground. Free the rabbit for the hunt, as you do the fox, on unknown territory, and the dogs will soon take the frightened, bewildered little creature.
There is no braver or more devoted mother in all the wilds than Molly Cottontail. ”

“ A nibble at the apple, the trap is sprung, and the noose tightens around his neck, dangling little cottontail in the air just low enough for his hind feet to touch the ground, and slow strangulation continues until life is extinct. In the morning when the trapper reaches his snare he finds the rabbit frozen stiff, with tongue protruding and eyes bulging from their sockets. ”

“ There never was a Rabbit and there never will be a Rabbit who would go swimming for the fun of it. I belong to the Cottontail branch of the Hare family, and it is a fine family if I do say so. My cousin Jumper is a true Hare, and the only difference between us is that he is bigger, has longer legs and ears, changes the color of his coat in winter, and seldom, if ever, goes into holes in the ground. ”

“ Poor little Katie Cottontail gave a shiver and dropped her apron. Then clipperty-clip, lipperty-lip she went up the Cow Path to the Old Brush Heap on the hillside.
Mrs. Cow looked up and, seeing the little bunny girl hopping home all out of breath, thought something must be the matter and ran back to the Big Red Barn. The bell on her collar didn't make nearly as much noise as the one on the locomotive, but it made her hurry, just the same. [82]
"Goodness me! What scary things girls are!" said the little rabbit. "Mrs. Cow's ten times as big as Katie Cottontail, but she's just as scary." ”

“ Well-beaten and conspicuous trails lead from the burrows often for half a mile or more, frequently branching through the thickets in various directions. Armadillo burrows sometimes accommodate strange neighbors, as was shown by one in Texas which was dug out, and in addition to containing the owner in his den at the end, was found to be occupied by a four-foot rattlesnake and a half-grown cottontail rabbit, each in a side chamber of its own. ”

“ They resemble the ordinary rabbit in structure, but the ears are very long and the tail is more like that of the deer. In running they make long leaps, all four feet hanging straight down, presenting a singular appearance.
Rabbits are seldom trapped with steel traps, but almost every country boy knows how to take them in box traps baited with sweet apples. The cottontail may also be taken in a spring pole snare, such as shown in the cut. The noose is made of twine and is about ten inches in diameter. When carefully made they are almost certain in action. ”

“ Farther on we crossed a plateau where a series of stumps showed where a grove of chestnut trees had grown in the days before the Blight. Suddenly from under our very feet dashed a brown rabbit, his white powder-puff gleaming at every jump. The lithe, lean, springing body seemed the very embodiment of speed. There are few animals that can pass a rabbit in a hundred yards, even our cottontail, the slowest of his family. He is, however, only a sprinter. In a long-distance event the fox, the dog, [Pg 49] and even the dogged, devilish little weasel can run him down. ”

“ The cottontail of the Rockies is the commonest and easiest source of meat, not only to the camper, but to the rabbit's cannibalistic neighbors. He is a sort of universal food—a sort of staff of life to the animal world. But for him famine would stalk the big killers. Fortunately for himself and for his preying foes, he is most prolific, and holds his own, in numbers at least, despite man and beast. Occasionally some ravaging disease carries his kind off by the thousands, then starvation faces those dependent on him for food. ”

“ When a Cottontail or a Wood-hare runs, his tail is curled up tight on his back, and does not touch the snow. When a Jack runs, his tail hangs downward or backward, with the tip curved or straight, according to the individual; in some, it points straight down, and so, often leaves a little stroke behind the foot-marks. The Warhorse's tail of shining black, was of unusual length, and at every bound, it left in the snow, a long stroke, so long that that alone was almost enough to tell which Rabbit had made the track. ”

“ They're a lot of little cottontail rabbits making believe they're big rip-snorting timber wolves. They set out to everlastingly eat up some proposition but at the first sign of trouble they turn tail and stampede for the brush. ”

“ And every morning, when Molly Cottontail went out to get their food, she said to Raggylug, 'Now, Raggylug, remember you are only a baby rabbit, and don't move from the nest. No matter what you hear, no matter what you see, don't you move!'"—all this is different still, yet it is familiar, too; it appears that rabbits are rather like folks. So the tale proceeds, and the little furry rabbit passes through experiences strange to little boys, yet very like little boys' adventures in some respects ”

“ Reynard is nimble, but give the little cottontail a few feet handicap in a race for life, and he stands a fair chance of escape, especially in the summer woods.
When the hounds are on his trail the rabbit saves his legs by outwitting his pursuers. He will win a long distance ahead of them, and before they overtake him he will double on his track, approaching as near as he dare to the dogs, then leap far aside upon a log, into a stream, or among the bushes, and strike out in a new direction, gradually making back toward the starting-place. ”

“ Just then the little rabbit dropped the sugar-coated carrot and couldn't find it. He hunted high and low, and so did little Katie Cottontail, but the candy carrot was gone. Yes, sir. It certainly was. And I'll tell you where it went. Into a little hole in the ground where a snake had his home.
"Well, we'll make some cranberry juice soda when we get home," said Little Jack Rabbit, and off they hopped to the Cranberry Patch. In a little while he had filled his pail and Katie Cottontail her apron, and then they started for home. ”

“ There are many species, one or more of which will be found in almost every locality of North America, but the most important species are the common cottontail, the jack rabbit and the snowshoe rabbit, or varying hare. ”

“ Tracking showed that the weasel had chased the rabbit for a half mile. On November 20, 1942, at Lake James, Indiana, a weasel was seen by Grosjean (1942:443) attacking a "young rabbit" in the throat of which the weasel had made five large holes from which there was no obvious bleeding. Seton (1929 (4) :798) recounts that in 1910 at Base Lake, Michigan, F. C. Hicks saw a cottontail with a weasel hanging to its legs rush to the cottage. When only four feet from Hicks the weasel loosed its hold and the cottontail escaped under the cottage. ”

“ I have trapped them in brush country, rocky areas, open brushless places, and at the mouth of ground squirrel holes.
Lepus californicus. (Gray.) Jack-Rabbit. Common in the valley and to a certain extent in the foothills and higher.
Sylvilagus auduboni sanctidiegi. (Miller.) San Diego Cottontail. Abundant in the Lower Sonoran zone. Increasing each year due to the protection afforded by game laws. Considerable damage to young trees is done by cottontails and they are a great pest to the farmer.
Sylvilagus bachmani cinerascens. (Allen.) Ashy Brush Rabbit. ”

“ AT first he thought of taking Molly
Cottontail along with him. Then he concluded
that the twins would be very lonely without her.
Peter Rabbit was not a selfish bunny. At any rate,
he thought he would get on much faster alone. ”

“ Because this species has been so reduced in numbers, no distributional map has been included. Taylor and Shaw (1929: 28) give its range as: "north to Oroville, east to Pullman, south to Asotin, [Pg 382] Walla Walla, and Kennewick, and west to Lake Chelan (Manson) , Yakima Valley, and Klickitat County." This range is similar to that of the Nuttall Cottontail (Fig. 129) .
Lepus americanus Erxleben
Snowshoe rabbit Description.—The appearance, size, and proportions of the snowshoe rabbit are similar to those of the Belgian hare. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The sunshine was still warm and slanting on the hill pastures. Half way up, Cottontail was sitting in her doorway, with four or five half-grown little rabbits playing about her; one black and the others brown. ”

“ The rabbit has its wild enemies, ever watchful, ever close on its trail. The hawk, the mink, the weasel, the fox, the lynx, and others are rabbit hunters. Besides his quick hearing, and his swiftness, Br'er Rabbit has a wonderful power of becoming invisible. His nondescript colour, combined with his ability to "freeze," serve him as well as a cloak of darkness. The cotton-tail rabbit is commonest in the Middle and Southern states, while his bigger cousin, the varying hare, overlaps the rabbit's territory in the colder parts, and takes his place in the most Northern states. ”

“ It must, however, be admitted that any explanation ought to fit the case of the Hare which often carries its tail with the white underside exposed, but is a solitary animal with no companions to follow it. On the sand dunes the Rabbit's coat renders it invisible through harmony with the sand.
In the ordinary way of life the Rabbit is a silent animal, except that he gives vent to low growls and grunts to express anger or [Pg 117] pleasure; but when terrorised by the imminence of attack by a Stoat the Rabbit finds its voice and gives utterance to a loud scream of agony. ”

“ Rabbits are without weapons of defense, and are simple-minded to the last degree. Most are incapable of long-distance speed, but all have an exuberance of multiplication that fills their ranks as fast as foe can thin the line. If, indeed, they did not have several families, several times a year, they would have died out several epochs back.
There are three marked types of Rabbits in the Rockies—the Cottontail, the Snowshoe, and the Jackrabbit. All of them are represented on the [Pg 152] Yellowstone, besides the little Coney of the rocks which is a remote second cousin of the family. ”

“ The cotton-tail often takes refuge in a hole, and then there is a grand rush to the place to reach in and pull it out. Grubbing-hoes, digging-irons, and fingers are all used to enlarge the hole, and at last the poor rabbit is pulled out, with perhaps only half his hide on. ”

“ The American mammals to which the term “rabbit” may be properly applied include not only the cottontails, but numerous other species closely similar in form and general appearance, but lacking the cottony white tail. As a group, these rabbits have a far greater distribution in America than the hares. They range from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific and from the southern border of Canada south through Central and South America to Argentina. Their vertical distribution extends from sea level to above timberline, attaining an altitude of more than 14,000 feet on Mount Orizaba, Mexico. ”

“ This is a conclusive indication of the close relationship between cottontails and European rabbits, the young of the latter being similarly, but even more, undeveloped at birth.
The young of the cottontails are born in nests made of dead grasses warmly lined with fur from the mother’s body. If above ground the nest is placed in a little depression and so artfully concealed by a covering of dead grasses that it can be discovered only by accident. When caught, young cottontails utter little cries of alarm; the wounded adults sometimes shriek in terror. ”

“ Its flesh is more delicate than that of the larger species, and is much valued. In winter the city markets are well supplied with Cottontails, their increase being so large that they are always abundant, while in rural districts the small boys capture 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. ”