In late autumn rabbits are very busy about their burrows, making them
fit for winter habitation. Through the summer, while many of the
rabbits have been lying out, the burrows have looked deserted and
untidy. Warned by the chilly nights that a subterranean refuge will
soon be useful, the rabbits do up their premises, enlarging them,
clearing away the remains of old nests, and of relatives that have died
underground, and making fresh chambers where they may lie snug and warm
in place of those dug out during last season's ferreting operations.
Judging by the amount of soil excavated in a single night, rabbits at
this season seem to rival ants in energy--one might think there had
been a wholesale invasion of new-comers. At work, they kick the soil
sideways, forming a furrow perhaps six or ten feet in length. Few
have watched them while engaged in this toil, usually undertaken at
night-time; but we have seen them at work once or twice by day, and
once caught a rabbit by the leg--so intent was he on his digging--while
he was in the act of kicking the soil aside.
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