Although the hare (_fig. 58._) and the rabbit (_fig. 59._) are so
very similar both in their external and internal conformation, yet
they never intermix, but form two distinct and separate species. As
hunters, however, have asserted that the male hares, in rutting time,
run after and cover female rabbits, I have endeavoured to discover what
would be the result of such a union. For this purpose I caused some
male hares to be reared with some doe rabbits; and some male rabbits
with doe hares, but these attempts were attended with no other effects
than convincing me, that though these animals are so similar in form,
they are so different in nature as to be incapable of producing an
intermediate race. One young hare, and a young female rabbit of nearly
the same age, did not live together three months; for, having acquired
a little strength, they became dreadful enemies, and their continual
battles terminated in the death of the hare. Of two male hares, each
of which I confined with a doe rabbit, one shared the same fate, and
the other, being very strong and ardent, never ceased from tormenting
the rabbit, by endeavouring to cover her, and in the end occasioned
her death, either by the wounds he gave her, or by his too violent
caresses. Three or four doe hares, whom I matched with male rabbits,
experienced the same fate, though in a still shorter time. Though
there was never any produce, yet I am pretty certain that a copulation
sometimes took place; at least that, notwithstanding the resistance
of the female, the male was gratified: and there was more reason to
expect a produce from this union, than that of the rabbit and hen; of
which, according to a certain author[K], the fruit would be, _chickens
covered with hair, or rabbits covered with feathers_! This strange
conclusion was drawn from the act of a vicious male rabbit, who being
unaccommodated with a female, made use of a hen as he might have done
any other moveable: nor was there the least probability to expect any
product from two animals whose species were so distant, since nothing
results from an union between the hare and rabbit, which seem so nearly
to approach each other.
[K] See a French Tract entitled, L'Art d'Elever les Poulets.
The fecundity of the rabbit is even greater than that of the hare;
and without crediting Wotton's assertion, that a single pair being
left upon an island, multiplied to six thousand at the end of a year;
it is certain that they increase so prodigiously, in countries which
are proper for their breed, that the earth cannot supply them with
sufficient subsistence. They destroy herbs, roots, grains, fruits, and
even young trees and shrubs; and if it were not for dogs and ferrets,
they would reduce the country to a desart. The rabbit not only produces
more frequently and in greater numbers than the hare, but it has more
ways to escape its enemies, and to avoid the sight of man. The holes
which it digs in the earth, where it retires in the day, and where it
brings forth its young, protect it from the wolf, fox, and birds of
prey. Here the whole family live in perfect security; here the females
nourish their young, for the space of two months, nor ever conduct them
abroad until they have sufficient strength to provide for themselves.
By this means they avoid the dangers of their early age; while hares,
on the contrary, are destroyed in greater numbers at this period,
than during all the rest of their lives. This circumstance alone may
suffice to prove that the rabbit is superior to the hare in point of
sagacity. They are alike in their conformation, and have equal power to
dig retreats. Both are equally timid; but the one, possessed of less
art, is contented with forming a residence on the surface of the earth,
where it remains continually exposed, while the other, by a superior
instinct, digs into the earth, and secures itself an asylum; and as a
proof this is the effect of sentiment, we never see the domestic rabbit
taking that trouble. They neglect securing themselves retreats, from
the same reason that domestic birds neglect the building of nests,
because they are equally protected from the inconveniences which both
species in their natural state must necessarily have been liable to.
It has been often remarked, that when a warren is replenished with
domestic rabbits they and their produce remain upon the surface, like
hares; and that it is not until they have experienced a number of
hardships, and passed several generations, they begin to dig holes in
the earth for an asylum.
The domestic rabbits, like all other domestic animals, vary in colour;
white, black, spotted, and grey, are, however, the only colours which
properly belong to Nature. The black rabbits are the most scarce. The
wild rabbits are all of a greyish brown, which is also the predominant
colour among the tame ones; for in every litter we constantly find
brown rabbits, even though the old ones were both black or both white,
or the one white and the other black. It is seldom that more than one
or two will resemble such parents, whereas the brown rabbits, though
domestic, seldom produce any but of their own colour, and it is, as it
were, by chance, if they bring forth white, black, or mixed ones.
These animals are capable of engendering by the age of five or six
months. It is asserted they are constant in their amours, and that they
usually attach themselves to a female which they never forsake. The
latter is always ready to receive the male; she goes with young 30 or
31 days, and brings forth from 4 to 8 at a time. Like the doe hare
she has a double matrix, and consequently may produce at two different
times. It appears, however, that super-foetations are less frequent
in this species than in that of the hare, which is perhaps owing to
the females being more constant, and because they copulate less out
of season. A few days before bringing forth they dig a fresh burrow,
not in a straight line, but in a crooked direction, at the bottom of
which they make an excavation; after which they tear a quantity of
hair from off their bellies, and with it make a bed for their little
ones. For the first two days they never quit them; they never stir
abroad but when forced by hunger, and then return as soon as they have
satisfied their appetite, which they do amazingly quick. Thus they tend
and suckle their young for more than six weeks, during which time the
buck has no knowledge of them, for he never enters the burrow dug by
the doe; and she frequently, when she leaves her little ones, stops up
the entrance to it with earth saturated with her own urine. But when
they begin to come to the mouth of the hole, and to eat groundsel, and
other herbs, which the mother picks out, he then begins to know them;
he takes them between his paws, endeavours to smooth their hair, and
licks their eyes. Each, in succession, partakes equally of his cares;
at which time the mother bestows many caresses upon him, and generally
proves with young a few days after.
From a gentleman in my neighbourhood, who had amused himself many years
in rearing rabbits, I received the following remarks; "I began," says
he, "with only one male and one female; the former perfectly white,
and the latter brown. Of their produce, which was very numerous, the
greatest part was brown, many of them white and mixed, and some few
black. When the female is in season the male scarcely ever leaves her;
his temperament is so warm that I have seen him go with her five or six
times within the hour. At this time the female lies on her belly, with
her fore legs stretched out, and utters little cries, which seem rather
to be tokens of pleasure than pain. Their manner of coupling is similar
to that of the cat, only the male scarcely bites the neck of the
female. These animals pay great respect to parental authority, at least
I judge so from the great deference which all my rabbits shewed for
their first ancestor, whom I could easily distinguish by his whiteness,
being the only male that I preserved of that colour. The family very
soon augmented, but even those which had become fathers were still
subordinate to him. Whenever they fought, whether for females or
food, their great progenitor would run to the place of dispute, and
as soon as he was perceived order would be immediately restored. If
he surprised them in the act of assaulting each other, he would first
separate and then chastise them on the spot. Another proof I had of his
dominion over his posterity was, that having accustomed them to retire
into their place upon the blowing of a whistle, whenever I gave the
signal, how distant soever they might be, this old one put himself at
their head, and though he came first he made them all pass before, nor
would he enter till last himself. I fed them with wheat, bran, hay, and
a good deal of the juniper-tree; of this last they ate all the berries,
the leaves and the bark, and left nothing but the hard wood. This food
gave their flesh an agreeable flavour, and rendered it as good as that
of the wild rabbits."
_Engraved for Barr's Buffon._
[Illustration: FIG. 60. _Hares Male and Female._]
[Illustration: FIG. 61. _Rabbits Domestic and Wild._]
These animals live eight or nine years; and as they pass the greater
part of their lives in burrows, where they remain in repose and
tranquillity, they grow much fatter than hares. Their flesh is also
very different, both in colour and taste. That of the young rabbit
is very delicate, but the flesh of the old ones is always hard and
dry. They were originally, as I have already observed, natives of hot
climates. They were known to the Greeks; and it appears that the only
countries in Europe where they anciently existed were Greece and Spain.
From thence they were brought into the more temperate climates of
Italy, France, England, and Germany, where now they are naturalized;
but in colder climates, as Sweden, and other northern parts, they
can scarcely be reared in the house, and perish if they are left in
the fields. On the contrary, they thrive in excessive heat, for we
meet with them in the southern parts of Asia and Africa, as about the
Persian Gulph, the Bay of Saldana, in Lybia, Senegal, and Guinea. We
also meet with them in our American Islands, whither they have been
transported from Europe, and have thriven extremely well.