Audubon's Mammals/MAMMALS1_3.BIN/dp/0003/00032.txt

Text File | 1992-08-25 | 43KB | 794 lines

$Unique_ID{QAD00032}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Gray Rabbit     (Eastern Cotton tail)}
$Subject{Gray Rabbit     (Eastern Cotton tail); Lepus; Sylvaticus}
$Journal{Quadrupeds of North America:  Volume III}
$Volume{Vol. 3:173-188}
$Genus{Lepus}
$Species{Sylvaticus}
$Common_Name{Gray Rabbit}
$Log{
Plate XXII*00032P1.scf
Genus*00005.txt}

       Portions copyright (c) Creative Multimedia Corp., 1990-91, 1992

                       A U D U B O N ' S   M A M M A L S

                    By John James Audubon, F. R. S., &c. &c.

                                      AND

                     The Rev. John Bachman, D. D., &c. &c.

                  -------------------------------------------
                                    VOL. I.
                        --------------------------------


                          LEPUS SYLVATICUS.--BACHMAN.
                            [Sylvilagus floridanus]

                                  GRAY RABBIT.
                             [Eastern Cotton tail]

                   PLATE XXII.  OLD MALE, FEMALE, and YOUNG.


     L. auribus capite curtioribus, aurium apice et margine aut nigro; corpore
L. Americano minore, supra cinereo-fulva, fusco mixto, subtus subalbido.


                                  CHARACTERS.

     Smaller than the Northern hare; ears, shorter than the head, not tipped or
margined with black; colour, grayish-fawn, varied with brown above; whitish
beneath.


                                   SYNONYMES.

     CONY, Third Voyage of the English to Virginia, 1586, by Thomas Herriott.
       From Pinkerton's Voy., vol. xii., p. 600.
     HARE, HEDGE CONEY, Lawson, p. 122, Catesby, Appendix 28.
     AMERICAN HARE, Kalm's Travels, vol. i., p. 105.
     LEPUS AMERICANUS, Desmarest, Mam., p. 351.
     LEPUS AMERICANUS, Harlan, Fauna, p. 193.
     LEPUS AMERICANUS, Godman, Nat. Hist., vol. ii., p. 157.
     LEPUS AMERICANUS, Audubon, Birds of America, vol. ii., p. 51, in the talons
       of Falco Borealis; Ornithological Biography, vol. i., p. 272.
     LEPUS AMERICANUS, Bach., Jour. Ac. Sc. Phil., vol. vii., p. 326.
     LEPUS SYLVATICUS, Bach., Jour. Ac. Sc. Phil., vol. vii., p. 403, &
       vol. viii., p. 78 & 326.
     LEPUS AMERICANUS, Emmons, Mass. Report, 1840, p. 56.
     LEPUS NANUS, Dekay, Nat. Hist. of New-York, 1842.


                                  DESCRIPTION.

     This species bears some resemblance to the European burrowing rabbit, (L.
cuniculus,) in the gray colour which is natural to the latter in a wild state,
but does not change to the different colours the European rabbit presents in a
state of domestication.  It is a little smaller, and is of a more slender form
than L. cuniculus.  Head, short; eyes, large; ears, well clothed with short
hairs on the outer surface; within, the hairs are a little longer, but less
dense, the outer border for the fourth of an inch pretty well covered, but
nearer the orifice the skin visible through the thinly scattered hairs; legs, of
moderate size; claws, strong, sharp, and nearly straight, concealed by the hair;
tail, longer in proportion than that of the Northern hare.  Fur, compact and
soft, about an inch and a quarter in length in winter.


                                    COLOUR.

     Summer dress.--Fur on the back, yellowish-brown; soft fur, from the roots
to the surface, plumbeous; the long hairs which extend beyond the fur, and give
the general colour to the animal, are for three-fourths of their length lead
coloured, then yellowish, and are tipped with black.  Ears, dark-brown on the
outer surface, destitute of the distinct black border seen in the Northern hare,
and not tipped with black like those of the Polar and the variable hare;
whiskers, nearly all black; iris, light brownish-yellow; a circle of fawn colour
around the eye, more conspicuous nearest the forehead.  Cheeks, grayish; chin,
under surface of body, and inner surface of legs, light grayish-white; tail,
upper surface grayish-brown, beneath, white.  Breast, light yellowish-gray;
behind the ears, a broad patch of fawn colour; outer surface of fore-legs and
thighs, yellowish-brown.
     Winter colour.--Very similar to the above; in a few specimens, the hairs
are whitest at the tips; in others, black tips prevail.  This Hare never becomes
white in any part of our country, and so far as our researches have extended, we
have scarcely found any variety in its colouring.


                                  DIMENSIONS.

     Adult Male.                                      Inches.   Lines.

     Length of head and body  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .   15         0
     head   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .    3         5
     ears   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .    3         0
     tail (vertebrae).  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .    1         2
     tail, including fur.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .    2         2
     From heel to end of middle claw.  .  .  .  .  .    3         7
                               Weight, 2 lbs. 7oz.


                                    HABITS.

     This species abounds in our woods and forests, even in their densest
coverts; it is fond of places overgrown with young pines thickly crowded
together, or thickets of the high bush-blackberry, (Rubus villosus;) and is also
fond of frequenting farms and plantations, and occupying the coppices and grassy
spots in the neighbourhood of cultivation, remaining in its form by day,
concealed by a brush-heap, a tuft of grass, or some hedge-row on the side of an
old fence; from which retreat it issues at night, to regale itself on the
clover, turnips, or corn-fields of the farmer.  It not unfrequently divests the
young trees in the nursery of their bark; it often makes inroads upon the
kitchen-garden, feasting on the young green peas, lettuces, cabbages, &c., and
doing a great deal of mischief; and when it has once had an opportunity of
tasting these dainties, it becomes difficult to prevent its making a nightly
visit to them.  Although the place at which it entered may be carefully closed,
the Rabbit is sure to dig a fresh hole every night in its immediate vicinity;
and snares, traps, or guns, are the best auxiliaries in such cases, soon putting
an end to farther depredations.
     This animal, when first started, runs with greater swiftness, and makes
fewer doublings than the Northern hare, (L. Americanus;) having advanced a
hundred yards or more, it stops to listen; finding itself pursued by dogs,
should the woods be open and free from swamps or thickets, it runs directly
toward some hole in the root of a tree or hollow log.  In the lower parts of
Carolina, where it finds protection in briar patches, and places thickly
overgrown with smilax and other vines, it continues much longer on foot, and by
winding and turning in places inaccessible to larger animals, frequently makes
its escape from its pursuers, without the necessity of resorting for shelter to
a hollow tree.
     The Gray Rabbit possesses the habit of all the other species of this genus
with which we are acquainted, of stamping with its hind feet on the earth when
alarmed at night, and when the males are engaged in combat.  It is also seen
during the spring season, in wood-paths and along the edges of fields, seeking
food late in the mornings and early in the afternoons, and during the breeding
season even at mid-day:  on such occasions it may be approached and shot with
great ease.  This species, like all the true hares, has no note of recognition,
and its voice is never heard except when wounded or at the moment of its
capture, when it utters a shrill, plaintive cry, like that of a young child in
pain; in the Northern hare this cry is louder, shriller, and of longer
continuance.  The common domesticated European rabbit seems more easily made to
cry out in this way than any other of the genus.
     Dr. RICHARDSON, in his work on the American quadrupeds, expresses an
opinion from a careful examination of many specimens in different States, that
the change to the winter dress in the