THE RABBIT.
While the rabbit is classed among the fur-bearing animals, the skin
having a slight market value, very few of the trappers ever market
the skins as the price is so little that trapping the animals for
their fur would not be a lucrative business.
The flesh is much used as food by the northern hunters and trappers,
and also as bait for traps, and it is well for the trapper to know
something about the animal and how to capture it.
Properly speaking there are no rabbits in North America, the animals
known by that name being classed by naturalists as hares, but the
name is so universally used that it would be useless now to try to
bring the true name into general use.
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. Of these there are many varieties, but they are so
similar in appearance and habits that I do not consider it necessary
or advisable to go into detail in describing them in a work of this
kind.
Rabbits belong to the class known as rodents or gnawing animals, and
are distinctly different in structure from all other animals of the
class. The long hind legs, long ears, small tail and soft fur is
characteristic of the genus.
The common cottontail is found in almost all parts of the United
States, in certain parts of the north only, being replaced by the
snowshoe rabbit. They are smaller than the snowshoe and jack rabbits
and are of a grayish brown on the back and sides shading to white on
the under parts. The fur is a reddish brown in summer.
Their food consists of grasses, fruits and vegetables, bark, and the
leaves of evergreen shrubs such as the laurel. They are especially
fond of fruits, sweet apples being a favorite food, and are also
partial to cabbage.
Their favorite haunts are the brushy, wooded bottom lands but they
are also found on the hills and mountains; in fact, in almost any
place where they can find food and shelter.
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. This is nature's provision for the animal's protection, and
their color in winter is so nearly like that of the snow that when
sitting under some log or clump of brush they are almost invisible.
They have many enemies, being preyed upon by all the carnivorous
animals, also by such birds as the hawk and owl, but as they are
exceedingly prolific their numbers increase rapidly.
Every few years, perhaps at regular intervals, but of that I am not
certain, some disease makes its appearance among them and they die
off rapidly. Some naturalists believe that this is caused by
inbreeding as the rabbit's circle of acquaintance is comparatively
small, and his knowledge of the country and the ground covered by his
wanderings is limited to a very small area.
The food of the snowshoe rabbit consists mainly of grasses in summer
and the bark of certain young growths in winter. They are very fond
of salt and wherever there is a trace of it to be found, they will
come nightly and dig up the soil in order to procure it. The northern
settlers who use large numbers of these animals for food sometimes
make a salt lick for the rabbits and watch for the animals in the
early evening.
The feet of the snowshoe rabbit are very large and are heavily
furred, forming a sort of snowshoe which accounts for its common
name. They are very methodical, running the same route so often as to
form a well defined trail, quite common in the northern swamps and
hazel thickets. These trails are followed after the snow falls and
become beaten several inches in depth.
It is from the skins of the snowshoe rabbit that the northern Indians
make the wonderful rabbit skin blankets. The skin is ripped down the
back of the hind legs and is drawn off whole and while still fresh is
cut into one long strip averaging an inch in width. Immediately after
cutting, the strip rolls up leaving the outside covered with fur and
resembling a fur rope. These skins are wound into a ball and kept
frozen until the desired number has been secured when they are woven
into a frame, the ends being sewed together. It makes the warmest bed
covering known, and is used universally by the northern trappers. It
also was a great comfort to those who went into Alaska and Yukon in
search of gold.
[Illustration: Rabbit Snares.]
The jack rabbit is found mostly on the western plains and is the
largest of the American hares. 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. They
should be baited with sweet apple or cabbage.
The snare used for the snowshoe rabbit is a very simple contrivance.
The white trappers use No. 20 brass wire, doubled and twisted with a
small loop on one end, and made into the form of a slip noose.
The snares are set on the trails, the bottom of the noose being about
four inches above the trail and the loop, about four inches in
diameter, is attached firmly to a brush placed horizontally over the
path. A short stick is set upright under the noose and others are
placed on either side of the snare. When properly arranged the noose
will take the animal by the neck when it attempts to leap through,
and it will be choked by its struggles.
The Indians make the snares of light linen cord but with the white
man this method is a failure as the rabbit will invariably stop and
bite the cord. I do not understand why they do not bite the snares
set by the Indians.
Where tracks are plentiful and good trails cannot be found I have
caught them by placing a few fresh twigs of birch or tamarack on each
side of the snare. The rabbit is certain to find them and after
eating those placed on one side it will attempt to leap through the
noose to reach the others, which, of course, is the end of poor
"bunny". The smallest and tenderest shoots should be selected for
bait and only two or three should be placed at a snare.
At other times I have made a fence of small evergreen trees where
signs of the animals were numerous, and have fixed snares in the
openings along the obstruction. This is also a successful method.
I have never learned of any method of trapping or snaring the jack
rabbit, but believe they could be trapped successfully where they
visit the farms and gnaw the bark from fruit trees as they do in some
parts of the west.