The Rabbit
Rabbits are among the most timid of animals, and yet the courage that
a female or even an old buck will display when the young are threatened by
a weasel or stoat is most remarkable. As a rule, when actually pursued by these
blood-thirsty animals Rabbits run only a short distance and then sit down, close
their eyes, and submit to the inevitable tragedy with screams of abject terror;
arid yet, so great is the courage born of parental love that hundreds' of instances
are on record where old Rabbits have deliberately overcome their fears and rushed
upon the would-he murderer and routed him.1 Another extraordinary fact is the
indifference which Rabbits often display to the presence of a stoat. Many
examples could be cited of the cool disregard with which Rabbits have treated
the advent of a stoat in their midst, especially in open fields where a large
company were feeding. I have twice seen a stoat pass through a number of
feeding Rabbith- without their doing more than just lollop out of the way/ while
the actions of Rabbits that were actually mauled by a stoat, of which I gave
a picture8 in the second- kolume of this work, is an instance either Of their
carelessness or stupidity, most likely the latter.
Colonel E. A. Butler kindly sends me the following interesting notes on
Rabbits: / -
‘ Two years ago I found a nést of young Rabbits in a meadow, the grass
of which was so short that they could distinctly be seen moving in the nest
from a distance of several yards. My son took a photograph of them, but it was
not very successful, as they would not remain s till,p fft kept wriggling about at
masse, trying to get one below the other in order to hide themselves. This' is
the only nest I have ever seen above ground.
‘ Rabbits at times seem quite fearless in the presence of their enemies.
I have often seen a stoat running about in a field in the summer time where
Rabbits were feeding, without their taking any notice of it. I have also, when
ferreting, sometimes seen a Rabbit come out of a hole, wait till the ferret followed,
and instead of running away, jump into the air and kick at it, regarding it
apparently more with curiosity than fear.
< Last year while I was ferreting, a Rabbit bolted across a field. I Shöt it, and
as it lay squealing out in the open, my retriever went to fetch it, upon which to
I See Couch, Iltuotrutions o f Inslin tt, p. s3 >i N a tu r ist, .888, vol. *i. p. H ; F itld , Se^ember 8, .888,
September so, 1890, November 7, 1891, May 7, .89», October 7, 1893, and August 14, 1897; also T fc J to iiit ( Fur,
Feather, and F in’ Series), by J. E. Hasting, pp. 19-ai. L , , , .
1 This incident was referred to by a reviewer in Country L ift as most theatrical, lnfemng that I had never seen such
a thine and that all such strange occurrences should be verified by snapshots.
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VOL. III.