PART ONE

_GROUP II_

THE JACK-RABBIT

The jack-rabbit is generally a resident of open country, though he may be found also in woodlands; and, in some parts of the country, when deep snow covers the lowlands, he retires to the fastnesses of the mountains, where, up to altitudes of eight thousand feet, he frequents the range of Bighorn.

He is unquestionably the delight of the hunter who desires to acquire efficiency in hitting moving objects with a rifle bullet.

His tracks, being the biggest of the rabbit tribe, cannot very well be mistaken for those of any other animal. On sandy or muddy places often only the imprint of the front part of the hind foot is seen; and on hard roads, plow furrows, etc., usually the mark of the toenails alone is visible. When the animal is feeding or moving along slowly, the whole imprints of the hind feet are left, while with increasing speed only the front parts of them touch the ground. The forefeet rarely pair, and never if a jack-rabbit is running. If the long-eared fellow decides in the morning that it is time to retire for the day, he usually runs along a road, cattle-runway, or the like, returns in his own trail, and by a long side leap makes the trail seem to end. Where he lands, the four footmarks are usually so close together that they can be almost covered with the hand. He may leap directly into his "form," or he may repeat the same maneuver several times; but one thing is certain, a jack which acts in this manner is never far from home. If pursued during the daytime, he employs the same tactics again and again to throw the pursuer off the trail. At feeding places slight forms are often observed, and to follow the trail leading from them means, as a rule, a tiring walk, as those forms indicate that the jack has spent the after-supper hours there.

I have hunted with men who blamed their dogs if they failed to catch a rabbit with a broken foreleg. They evidently did not consider that a broken foreleg is of very little consequence to the running efficiency of that kind of animal. One with an injured hind leg, however, can be run down easily.

THE VARYING HARE

THE Varying Hare, though scarcely half the size of the jack-rabbit, makes almost as large a track, and when he spreads his feet in passing over frozen snow his tracks are fully as large. The entire track picture, however, differs materially from that of the jack--the individual tracks stand much closer together, and the feet are usually paired. The hare makes many different track pictures, but he cannot long refrain from making the jump--shown slightly reduced in the illustration--and a following of the trail for a short distance will always dispel any existing doubt, even if the individual tracks are larger than those of a young jack-rabbit. There is a much greater likelihood of mistaking the varying hare's trail for that of the cottontail rabbit, with which it has many points of resemblance. Only the slenderness of the rabbit's foot serves as a distinguishing feature in the trail so long as they are both unalarmed. If, however, they are put on the quick jump, the similarity of the two trails disappears.

THE COTTONTAIL RABBIT

AS can be easily seen from a comparison of the life-size track picture of the varying hare and cottontail--drawn from tracks made under the same tracking conditions, _i. e._, on ground covered by about two inches of snow, and while the animals were running at approximately the same speed--the tracks of the cottontail, besides being much more slender than those of the hare, are also more pencil-shaped at the point of the toes. The toes are but faintly indicated, and the toenails practically indiscernible, while in the case of the hare both are plainly visible; in fact, the imprint of the toenails is a prominent feature in the track of the hare. In every case where any doubt exists in regard to the tracks of the two small varieties, this alone is sufficient to settle it; as the toe marks are more prominent in the front track, its appearance alone is sufficient for the trailer to form a correct conclusion. Except when jumping with the hind feet into the front tracks two individual tracks of the cottontail never blend into one mark on account of the slenderness of the feet. The jump picture of both the small rabbits in dry snow sometimes appears very much like that of the marten; but by following the trail for a short distance one will always dispel any doubt.

In illustrated articles the writer has seen drawings and photographs of tracks and trails claimed to have been made by the New England cottontail which looked exactly like those made by the varying hare. If there was no mistake in identification, the Western cottontail, which the illustrations represent, evidently makes tracks entirely different from those of the Eastern variety. There is every reason to believe, however, that the track of the same type of rabbit is the same in every part of the country.

While the pursuit of big game is exciting sport at times, hunting rabbits is always attended with soul-satisfying fun. A famous occupant of the White House found recreation and pleasure in it, and I believe that few hunters who ever entered into the true spirit of the sport have failed to obtain a great deal of pleasure and healthful exercise.

THE SQUIRREL

THE squirrel practically always pairs its feet when on the ground. Like the other members of Group II its hind feet are much larger than the forefeet, and, as in the track-picture, are always planted ahead of the latter. The hind feet point outward, so that even by imperfect imprints, it may readily be seen in which direction the trail leads. As there is no other track known to the writer which could be confused with the squirrel's, it is not necessary to describe it; the illustration serves every purpose. Where the remains of the feast of a "varmint" are left in the woods--meat, entrails, or bones--squirrel tracks are found in great numbers, and the tyro is liable to take them for those of other animals. Ordinarily a careful look is sufficient to disillusion him, both as to the identity of the tracks and the diet of the squirrel.

Besides tracks, the squirrel leaves other signs which betray its presence in the woods--heaps of cone chips near stumps and other elevations, or strewn under trees one may find twigs from which buds have been eaten. Sometimes the cries of birds whose nests the squirrel may be robbing of eggs or young, will betray his presence. It is an entertaining pastime to hunt squirrels with a small-caliber rifle.

The writer considers the squirrel one of the most injurious creatures of our woods, and believes that in hunting him it is better to use some other weapon than the noisy shotgun.