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Show The Rabbits Deadly Enemy. Tho ways of life of the weasel, or bloodsucker, are not fully understood, nnd the killing of these rabbits. In particular, par-ticular, presented most Interesting problems. How did the minks manage to catch them? In every caso the rabbit rab-bit was apparently run down In fair, open running. In one case In particular tho mink had chased the rabbit across a celery swamp, as smooth and level aa a dance-hall fioor. Whatever hindrance there was In the foot of snow would have hindered the mink more than the rabbit. The mink is as slow a runner ns the rabbit Is swift. I h minks run several times, and their peculiar pe-culiar measuring-worm gait takes them along about as fast as a man can run, The rabbit cannot only go with incredible incredi-ble speed, but can course for hours. And yet tho mink Is ablo to run down the swift rabbit. The rabbit seems to give up the race; It would look almost as if some unknown law of nature made him the prey of minks, as If he felt that it was his destiny, and did not try to escnp from It In the cases wo observed, the Jumps of the rabbit grew shorter and shorter until it became llttlo llt-tlo more than a helpless hop. The marks In the snow-Indicated that the mink did not overtake his victim until the latter, for no apparent reason, had given up the rnce. And yet a fox seldom sel-dom catches a rabbit, and probably never In open running. Then It would seem as If these bloodsuckers blood-suckers have some power of which we know nothing. As It is, only one explanation ex-planation can be offered why so slow-running slow-running an animal as a mink, or weasel, wea-sel, can catch as swift an animal as a rabbit. We know the mink does not tire out the rabbit by following him leisurely, maintaining his slower gait relentlessly, relentless-ly, never giving his victim a chance to eat, and so by the slow process of work and worry wearing our poor Bunny. Hence It must be that tho rabbit has, in common vlth other small rodents, that terrible, demoralizing, or panicky! fear of all of the weasel family a fear so great and bewildering that once a mini: is on Its trail the rabbit becomes paralyzed with It, and Instinctively knowing that he cannot escape by running run-ning In a hole, gives up. If this is so, then there Is a law In nature which we donot Understand. A law akin to that which makes a rabbit a coward and a woodchuck brave to his dying gasp. A ferret put into a gray squirrel's hole was at once driven ou't by the Indignant squirrel. A rabbit has as sharp teeth as a squirrel, and surely might defend Itself as well as a young woodchuck. Yet the latter will face unflinching two dogs nnd a man. Yet the latter debleWV,-vfS cmfwvp After his back is broken and he is helpless, help-less, will he hold up his head and whistle u fierce defiance. Yet a rabbit will not even try to escape, apparently, from an anlmnl It could Just as well elude as not! It seems almost as If tho rabbit were meant for food for other animals. Nature having given him great reproductive powers and unlimited unlim-ited food, und then saddled him with some strange fatality that makes him play his part. In spite of himself, In the general scheme of wild life; John Burroughs, Bur-roughs, In Outing. |
