We have heard of terriers who have chased hares and caught them after a
burst of less than a field's-breadth; but we have never seen a terrier
catch a sound hare in a fair run, though we have known a clever little
dog to flash up a ditch and seize a loitering hare, and we have often
known a hare to be caught napping in her seat. The hares that terriers
catch after short runs have been in some trap or snare, or have been
shot, or otherwise wounded, or probably they are diseased. The wonder
is that hares can run so fast and long as they do in a state of
advanced disease. Hares suffer each year in some places from a disease
of a typhous nature, aggravated by feeding on frosted clover. Parting
the white fur on the underside of such a hare the skin is found to be
green. There is good cause to be suspicious of disease whenever a thin
hare is seen in autumn or winter.
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