Towards the end of January rabbits begin to fall off in condition. As
food becomes less nourishing their reserve supplies of fat gradually
dwindle. But with the end of the game season the price on their heads
begins to rise: and the keeper who has hard work to meet the expenses
of a shoot looks to the rabbit-catch of February to swell the credit
side of his accounts. Most people know that a hen pheasant is more
tender and delicate to eat than a cock, though cock and hen may be of
the same age. So with rabbits--those who sell rabbits might well charge
a penny or two more for the does than for bucks. The countryman knows
that the tenderest rabbits are those that he may skin with the least
difficulty.
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