. Wild life near home . s notalways Reynards equal, in speed he holds hisown very well with his enemy. Reynard isnimble, but give the little cottontail a few feethandicap in a race for life, and he stands a fairchance of escape, especially in the summer woods. When the hounds are on his trail the rabbitsaves his legs by outwitting his pursuers. Hewill win a long distance ahead of them, and be-fore they overtake hiija he will double on histrack, approaching as near as he dare to thedogs, then leap far aside upon a log, into a stream,or among the bushes, and strike out in a newdirection, gradual
. Wild life near home . s notalways Reynards equal, in speed he holds hisown very well with his enemy. Reynard isnimble, but give the little cottontail a few feethandicap in a race for life, and he stands a fairchance of escape, especially in the summer woods. When the hounds are on his trail the rabbitsaves his legs by outwitting his pursuers. Hewill win a long distance ahead of them, and be-fore they overtake hiija he will double on histrack, approaching as near as he dare to thedogs, then leap far aside upon a log, into a stream,or among the bushes, and strike out in a newdirection, gradually making back toward thestarting-place. He rises on his haunches to listen,as he goes along, and before the dogs have againpicked up the trail, he has perhaps had time torest and lunch. If it were a matter of dogs only, life would bejust full enough of excitement to be can double, balk, and mix trails on them, andenjoy it. They are nothing to fool. But thegun ! Ah, thats a foe which he cannot get up[224]. His drop is swift and certain. with. He may double and confuse the dogs;but as he comes back along a side-road, withthem yelping far in the rear, he often hops rightinto a game-bag. To do justice to the intelligence of the dog,and to be truthful about the rabbit, it must beremembered that, in the chase, Bunny usuallyhas the advantage of knowing the lay of the short cuts, streams, logs, briers, and roadsare all in mind before he takes a jump. Thedog is often on strange ground. Free the rabbitfor the hunt, as you do the fox, on unknownterritory, and the dogs will soon take the fright-ened, bewildered little creature. There is no braver or more devoted motherin all the wilds than Molly Cottontail. She hasa mothers cunning and a mothers resourceful-ness, also. But this is to be expected. If numberof children count for experience, then, surely,Molly ought to be resourceful. There are sea-sons when she will raise as many as three fam-ilies—and old-fashione
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1901
