of our native fauna do not appear to stand in need of much space being
devoted to them. Familiar as the two common species may be they require
to be distinguished not only one from the other, but also from the
two other and less familiar species, and in addition there may be a
few facts of organisation and habit that are not well-known to all
our readers. All members of the family Leporidæ, there are certain
structural features in which they all agree in a general way. They
belong to the section of Rodents known as Duplicidentata, because in
the upper jaw there are always two pairs of incisors. All the other
Rodents have only one pair, and they form the division Simplicidentata.
The dentition of the Rabbits and Hares is therefore as follows: _i 2/1,
c 0/0, p 3/2, m 3/3 = 28_.
The ears are remarkably long and out of all proportion to the size of
the body when compared with other Mammals. If laid forward over the
face they reach nearly to the tip of the nose. The eyes are large and
prominent and placed well to the sides of the head. The hinder legs are
longer than the forelegs, and so greatly developed as to be the main
propelling power. Instead of pads on the soles to protect the foot and
legs from the jars incidental to hard running, the Leporidæ have all the
feet covered beneath with a thick coating of hair which gives a firm
grip either on hard rock or slippery snow. The tail is very short and
turned up. The fur is of triple formation: there is a dense, soft,
woolly under-fur, through which push longer and stronger hairs and give
the coat its colour, and a still longer but much less numerous set,
scattered among the others. The two longer sorts of hair are more or
less ringed. The coat becomes thicker in winter.
They are sexually mature at a very early age, and often begin to breed
before they have attained to full size. The females are distinguished by
the form of the head, which is longer and more delicately modelled than
that of the male. The males (bucks), too, are restless and quarrelsome.
They are promiscuous breeders, and the entire care of the family falls
upon the mother (doe).
Litters of Rabbits succeed one another rapidly between February and
September; less frequently in the autumn and winter months. The litters
vary from two or three to eight, the higher numbers being those of the
warmer months. Young Rabbits are but sparsely clothed and are blind and
deaf, the ears being closed and having no power of movement until about
the tenth day. The eyes open a day later. In a few days more they can
run, and make short excursions from the underground nest. Before they
are a month old they are capable of independent existence. Until then
the mother will defend them against all-comers, including the Weasel and
Stoat, using her powerful hind feet against her adversary, and to good
purpose.
The Rabbit is a much smaller animal than the Hare, greyer in colour,
with smaller ears and feet, and the black tips of the ears so noticeable
in the Hare, are in the Rabbit much reduced or altogether wanting. Its
average weight and measurements are: weight, 2-1/2 to 3 lbs.; length
of head and body, 16-1/2 ins., tail, 3-3/4 ins., ear, 3 ins., hind foot
with claws, 3-3/4 ins. It also differs from the Hare in the structure
of its heavier skull, its smaller eyes, shorter ears, and lesser
specialisation of the limbs for speed in running.
It is believed that originally the Rabbit was a native only of the
western parts of the Mediterranean region--where it still teems--and to
have spread northwards largely by human aid. It is known to have been
introduced to Italy from Spain by the Romans, who are usually credited
with having brought it to Britain. It is now thought, however, that we
are indebted to the Normans for its presence. It was certainly here in
the twelfth century. The name Rabbit is from the French, and originally
indicated the suckling young; the adults being known as Conies.
Although so famous as a digger of extensive underground dwellings,
Nature does not appear to have specially built the Rabbit for this
purpose; but where the soil is light the efforts of many generations of
associated workers have resulted in a system of burrows both extensive
and complicated, with bolt-runs as emergency exits and stop-runs for
nursery use. Although it prefers the light sand of the dunes covered
with Marram-grass, or a sandy heath overgrown with furze and heather,
it will on occasion drive its tunnels into firm loam or dry clay; it
has been known even to burrow deeply into a surface seam of coal. The
forepaws are the principal burrowing tools, the loosened earth being
thrown far back by the kicking of the hinder feet. Where stones come in
the way that cannot be loosened by the paws, they have been known to be
removed by the teeth. These tunnels are about six inches in diameter,
increased locally to a foot to provide passing places. The residental
quarters are always blind chambers leading from the main passages. The
adult Rabbits do not indulge in bedding materials but rest on the bare
soil. The does, however, make beds for their young by denuding their
own under parts of fur. These tunnels are frequently made use of by
other animals, if necessary, by enlarging the passage to admit their
larger bodies. When Rabbit-earths are ferreted they sometimes yield
more than Rabbits: a Fox, a Cat, a Stoat, with several Rabbits and
Rats, have been driven out of the same earth.
Where the Rabbit finds the ground too hard or too wet, it contrives
to do without tunnelling underground, making runs under the heather,
furze, or matted herbage. Such exceptions are known to sportsmen as
Stub-Rabbits or Bush-Rabbits, in the belief that they are a separate
species. Occasionally, too, the doe will follow the example of the Hare,
and make a nursery "form" in fallow land or among the growing turnips.
The Rabbit is almost exclusively a vegetarian, its chief food being
grass and the tender shoots of furze; but in the vicinity of cultivated
land they devastate the crops and inflict serious loss upon the farmer.
The exception to a vegetable diet is found in its occasional indulgence
in snails. Wherever there is sufficient food and his enemies are not too
oppressive the Rabbit has extended his range to the most out-of-the-way
corners of these islands. A century ago it was a scarce beast in
Scotland, but it is now to be found in abundance up to the extreme
north. It is found also all over Ireland. Its chief enemies, in addition
to man, are all the members of the Weasel family, the Owls, and the
Hawks.
Every one who has come across a party of Rabbits feeding must have
noticed how conspicuous the white underside of the upturned tail makes
them in flight. Wallace suggested that like the white patch on the hind
parts of deer and antelope it served as "a signal flag of danger," a
guide to the young and feeble to escape from danger by following the
most vigorous seniors. This view has been strongly criticised, even
ridiculed; but the critics have not offered a better explanation of
the upturned Rabbit's "scut." 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 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. This has
been referred to in the account of the Stoat (_ante_, p. 68).
[Illustration: _Pl. 74._ _I 116._
*Entrance to Rabbit-Burrow.*
Bare slope in front formed of excavated earth.]
[Illustration: _Pl. 75._ _I 117._
*Brown Hare.*
Lepus europæus.]
*Brown Hare* (_Lepus europæus_, Pallas).
Although in general form and structure the Hare is similar to the
closely related Rabbit, there are differences so great as to have
induced recent systematists to put them into different genera; and,
even superficially, they are sufficiently unlike to enable country folk
to keep them distinct under different names. These differences are
evident in the longer body, the great length of the hind limbs, the
longer ears with their invariable black tips, and the tawny colour of
the fur of the upper parts. To these distinctions they can add the
patent facts that whilst the Rabbit is a sociable beast, associating
in large communities, the Hare is as solitary and retired as a hermit.
There has never been any suggestion that the Hare's title to rank as a
real native of Britain is open to doubt, for its name is Anglo-Saxon,
and identical with that in use in Denmark and Sweden. It is widely
distributed in England, Wales and Scotland up to about 2000 feet
elevation; but in Ireland (which has a separate species of its own)
the Brown Hare is not a native. It has been a favourite animal of the
chase from the earliest times of which we have records; and our ancient
sportsmen had age-names for it as for Deer. Thus, in its first year it
was a Leveret, in the second year a Hare, and in the third a Great Hare.
The male is distinguished as Jack-Hare, and the female as Doe.
The total length of the Hare is about twenty-four inches, to which the
tail contributes three inches and two-thirds, and the head nearly four
inches. The ears fall short of five inches. The weight averages about
eight pounds. The tawny fur of the upper side is harsher than that
of the Rabbit, which is due to a predominance of the strong hairs of
medium length described under Rabbit. The shoulders, neck, and flanks
are of a ruddier hue than the back, and a ruddy band crosses the loins.
The sides of the face, and the outer surfaces of the limbs, incline to a
yellow tint. The underside is pure white except at the breast and loins
where the ruddy tint is continued from above. There is a profusion of
black and white whiskers, of which the white are the longer and as much
as three and a half inches in length. The tail, which is carried curved
up over the back or straight behind, is black above and white on the
sides and below. The large, prominent eyes have a horizontal pupil. As
it is almost impossible to come upon a Hare asleep, it was formerly
believed that they have no eyelids and are compelled, therefore, to
sleep with their eyes open. This, of course, was an "inexactitude"
comparable to the belief in the Mole's lack of eyes and ears. The
prominence of the dark eyes of the Hare, and their situation well to the
sides of the head give him a wide field of vision. As regards sexual
distinctions, the Jack-Hare has a smaller body, shorter head and redder
shoulders than the Doe.
[Illustration: *Skeleton and Teeth of Brown Hare.*]
The Hare is not a burrowing animal, and does not seek refuge
underground from his enemies, unless hard pressed, when he may enter a
Rabbit-burrow temporarily. He relies upon his russet coat harmonising
generally with his surroundings; and content with a slight depression
among the grass known as a "form," he sits all day and surveys the
landscape, ever ready to use his powerful limbs when his keen senses
tell him there is danger near. At dusk he goes abroad to feed, and
returns to the form at dawn. To break the continuity of scent, when he
is leaving his form, and again when returning to it, he will suddenly
turn at right angles to his former course and make a prodigious
leap--fifteen feet or more--to the top of a bank, then take another
long bound, perhaps into marshy ground where the scent will not lie,
and repairing to the feeding-ground feel safe from being tracked by
Fox or Polecat. He always adopts this leaping trick, also the plan of
doubling on his track, which has been the admiration and vexation of
the hunter from old times. Shakespeare has told at some length
"How he outruns the winds, and with what care
He cranks and crosses with a thousand doubles:
The many musets through the which he goes
Are like a labyrinth to amaze his foes."
As he courses across the fields you get the impression that he is longer
than the measurement given above; the impression is due to the length
of the hind legs extended in running, and from which he especially
gets the advantage over pursuers when the course lies uphill. He is
a good swimmer, and often crosses rivers in order to reach a better
feeding-ground, to avoid pursuit, or to seek a mate. Hares have been
known to cross the Trent in numbers, where it was two hundred yards
wide, in order to reach a field of carrots on the further side; and
Yarrel saw one cross an arm of the sea a mile broad.
The "form" is made in rank grass among thickets of gorse and briar, or
in the open field where the ground is dry beneath it. It takes and
retains the shape of the animal's body, and may be used for a long
period. Here the doe brings forth her litter of two, three, or four
young--occasionally more. There is much variation in this respect. These
are born with their eyes open, and a short furry coat, which however
lacks the ruddiness of the adult. They are capable of using their limbs,
and are so well advanced in development before birth, that soon each
makes its own little form beside the mother's, and when a month old they
are quite independent. When left alone on the form, whilst the mother
goes off to feed, and anything alarms them, they cry "leek, leek." The
adults pair promiscuously; and there appear to be three or four litters
a year.
The Hare appears to moult twice a year--in early autumn and early
spring; the former being the principal. Like the Rabbit, it is
exclusively vegetarian in its feeding, including bark, grain, and roots
as well as herbaceous plants in its bill of fare. It is very destructive
to young trees in plantations, and the farmer and market-gardener suffer
severely from its depredations among the crops of carrot, lettuce,
turnip, etc. In the open country it prefers grasses of the genera _Poa_,
_Festuca_, and _Molinia_, clover, sow-thistle, and chicory. When it
gets into gardens it shows distinct preference for dahlias, carnations,
pinks, nasturtiums, parsley, and thyme. In shrubberies it is very
destructive to bark and boughs, especially of coniferous trees.
The proverbial expression, "Mad as a March Hare," has reference to the
insane antics of the Jack-Hare during the rutting season. He grunts and
kicks, bucks like a broncho, and has stand-up boxing-matches with his
rivals. In bucking he leaps over his opponent and kicks him vigorously
with the hind feet. Though usually harmless, these encounters have been
known to have fatal terminations. Though regarded generally as a mute
animal, this is not the fact. The Hare has a low but clear cry, which
has been described as "don't," "[=o]nt" or "aunt," with varying
inflections denoting different moods. When wounded or badly frightened
it utters a scream like that of a child in pain, and sportsmen have
declared that the pitifulness of it caused them to give up shooting
Hares. They have also a warning sound made by grinding the teeth, and it
is passed on from Hare to Hare, having the same result as the stamping
of feet by the Rabbit. The amorous notes of buck and doe are different,
and their imitation by poachers and gamekeepers is known as
Hare-sucking.
The doe is a model mother for a time, and will fight desperately in
defence of her young; but as soon as they are capable of looking after
themselves she casts them off or deserts them.
*Alpine Hare* (_Lepus timidus_, Linn.).
Alternatively known as the Scottish or Variable Hare, the present
species is intermediate in size between the Brown Hare and the Rabbit.
The first name has reference to the fact that it is indigenous only in
Scotland and the neighbouring isles. It has been introduced into England
and Wales, but except in the northern counties and some of the Welsh
mountains has not established itself. The name Variable Hare denotes its
change of hue at the beginning of winter after the manner of the Stoat.
In Cheshire it is known as White Hare. Respecting this winter whitening
of the fur, fierce controversies raged for many years; one school
contending that it was due to a complete moulting of the summer fur,
as a new growth without colour was produced. The opposition claimed
that there was only one moult--in spring--to get rid of the too
conspicuous white coat as the snow with which it harmonised melted
away. They contended that the old hairs became altered individually
by the abstraction of pigment, or by the development of air-bubbles.
Evidence which was considered conclusive was brought forward by both
sides, and opponents remained unconvinced. In the early days of the
twentieth century, however, Metchnikoff showed that the senile whitening
of human hair was due to the activity of certain motile cells, which he
termed chromophages or colour-eaters, which remove the pigment granules
and consume them. At a later date he showed that the same process caused
the whitening of the hairs in the Scottish Hare, and of the feathers of
the Ptarmigan--which undergoes a similar change of colour. It is
noteworthy that the black tips of the ears, like the black tip of the
tail in the Stoat, never change colour.
As already stated, the Alpine Hare is smaller than the Brown Hare, the
combined length of head and body being about twenty inches, but the
head is proportionately larger, the ears and tail shorter, and the
legs longer. The fur is more woolly and of a duskier tint in summer,
the whiskers shorter and finer, the eyes rounder, and the hair on the
underside of the foot softer. Behind the breast the under parts are
white, and the tail wholly so. Another name--Blue Hare--is suggested by
its appearance in autumn and spring, when the summer and winter tints
are mingled in its fur. The coat becomes closer and longer in winter
than it is in summer. Sometimes the winter coat is retained longer than
usual, through some unexplained retarding of the spring moult. Black and
buff variations have been recorded. The average weight is between five
and six pounds.
The habits of the Alpine Hare are very similar to those of the Brown
Hare; but it is less timid, and when alarmed clears off in a more
leisurely and less excited manner. As contrasted with the nervous
terror of the Brown Hare and Rabbit, the Alpine Hare may be said to be
comparatively tame. Instead of making a form it hides in rock crevices
and among stones where it may be sheltered from the sight of birds of
prey overhead. Occasionally, and especially where there are no rocks,
they excavate burrows a few feet in length in the hillside or into the
peat-bank. In general its food is similar to that of the Brown Hare; but
it is said to add lichens to its bill of fare in winter, and to grind
up fir-cones in order to obtain the seeds.
Precise observation is still needed respecting the breeding habits of
the Alpine Hare, but they do not appear to differ greatly from those of
the Brown Hare, two or three litters being produced in the year, and the
leverets varying in number up to eight.
*Irish Hare* (_Lepus hibernicus_, Bell).
The abundance of Hares in Ireland has been noticed in literature for
more than a thousand years, but it was not until 1833 that it was
suggested that the Irish Hare was anything more than a variation of the
Brown Hare. Even so, until quite recently it has been accepted by most
of the high authorities as, at best, a variety or sub-species of the
Alpine Hare. It occurs naturally all over Ireland, and is not found
elsewhere except where distinct attempts have been made to introduce it.
Even in places where this introduction has succeeded in establishing
colonies--as in the Island of Mull, where it runs with the Alpine
Hare--it refuses to breed with other kinds. Barrett-Hamilton is
satisfied that it is distinct, and probably a direct descendant of the
extinct _Lepus anglicus_ whose remains are found in late Pleistocene
rocks.
It is a larger beast than the Alpine Hare. The head and body average
about twenty-three inches in length, and the tail about three inches.
The ears slightly exceed the tail. The average weight is about seven
pounds; but exceptionally exceeds nine, and in one case ten pounds has
been recorded. It has russet fur, not smoky brown or "blue" as in the
Alpine Hare; its winter whitening is not regular as in that species, and
is frequently patchy, russet "islands" being left surrounded by white.
As compared with the Brown Hare, the Irish Hare is smaller and of more
graceful build, but the head is relatively longer and broader, the eyes
rounder, the ears shorter and the limbs longer.
Though it does not dig burrows of its own, it has been known frequently
when coursed to take refuge in a Rabbit-burrow. Though, like the other
Hares, solitary, the Irish Hare shows a tendency to gregariousness at
times. They have been seen in the North of Ireland moving in droves of
two or three hundred, like Deer.
It has several litters during the year, averaging three leverets a
litter. They seldom remain long together, either moving apart of their
own accord or being separated by the old doe. They are able to run when
only an hour or two old.
HOOFED ANIMALS: RED DEER, FALLOW DEER, AND ROE DEER
*Red Deer* (_Cervus elaphus_, Linn.).
The largest and noblest surviving member of the ancient British fauna,
the Red Deer to-day has a very limited range--the mountain glens of
Scotland and Westmorland, in the north, and the wide Devon and Somerset
moors and the New Forest in Hampshire. Even in the New Forest, where
only a few score remain, it is extinct officially, for an Act of
Parliament passed in the year 1851 decreed the extermination of the
Deer, the reason being that they destroyed a vast quantity of what was
then become of far greater national value than venison--the growing
timber--and demoralised the inhabitants by creating a race of
deer-stealers.
A full-grown Stag, as the male Red Deer is called, stands about four
feet in height at the shoulders; the Hind, or female, somewhat less. The
summer coat is reddish-brown, sometimes golden-red, which changes to a
brownish-grey in winter by the new growth of grey hairs. On the under
parts the colour is white, and a patch of white around the short tail
furnishes a "recognition mark," common to most of the Deer family, which
serves to guide the herd when they are in flight before an enemy. A
hind bears her first calf when she is about three years old.
[Illustration: _Pl. 76._ _I 124._
*Red Deer Stag.*
Cervus elaphus.]
[Illustration: _Pl. 77._ _I 125._
*Young of Brown Hare.*
Left in "form" whilst mother feeds.]
All the species of Deer belong to what naturalists know as the even-toed
ungulates (animals with divided hoofs). As distinguished from the Horse,
for example, which walks on a single hoof in the middle line of the
foot, the Deer are supported on two smaller symmetrical hoofs and the
axis of the foot passes between them. If you come across the footprints
of the Red Deer--"slot" the hunter calls them--in soft ground you
will find that fact well-marked. Let me say parenthetically that when
observing wild animals, footprints or "spoor" should be eagerly watched
for. In the deeper slot of the Deer there may also be slight impressions
of two other toes, one on each side behind and above the hoofs.
If you should come across a no longer needed skull of the Deer, take the
opportunity for examining its dental arrangements. You are, of course,
more likely to meet with it in a museum than in your rambles. You will
find the teeth and their disposition do not differ materially from what
are found in the jaws of the ox and the sheep; for like those the Deer
is a ruminant, living on vegetable food and having a four-chambered
stomach. There are no teeth in the forepart of the upper jaw, the three
premolars and three molars of each side being placed well back in the
cheek. On each side of the lower jaw we find right in front three
incisors or cutting teeth, which bite against hardened gum in the upper
jaw. The Stag alone has a single canine tooth a little behind these, but
the Hind is denied this possession. Three premolars and three molars
correspond with, and bite against, those of the upper jaw. Dental
formula: _i 0/3, c 0/1, p 3/3, m 3/3 = 32_.