Morning journal and courier., 1881-12-30
The Jack-Rabbit of Texas.


 The iack-rabbit is an inhabitant of Texas and some other western States. He is often called the stmule- cared rabbit" and by the cowboy is familiarly spoken of as the 'smuley' He is not rabbit at all. A rab- bit is an unobtrusive little animal, who IS found by school boys in hole in the ground at the end of a long track in the snow. The so called ijack-rabbit is quite different kind of soup meat He is identical with the Brit ish hare. except that he is larger, his color lighter, and his ears much longer. His avoir- dupois is about 12 pounds and his ears measure, from tip to tip, about 16 inches. He does not burrow in the ground. He lies under cover of g bunch of prairie grass, but is very seldom found at home his office hours being between sunrise and sunset. He is to be found during the day on the open prairie, where he feeds on the tender shoots of the mesquite sage grass. He is not @ feroci ous animal, as a stranger might be led to suppose from an examination of what pur- ports to be his picture. under the alias of ''the Texan hare," in Gov. Roberts book. The jack-rabbit has several enemies, among them the cowboy, who shoots him with his rifle the coyote and the dog, that try to run him down, and the Governor of Texas, above alluded to, who ibels him in his book. He has two ways of protecting himself against his enemies One way is to squat when he suspects danger. and fold his ears along his sides. By doing this he often escapes obser vation as only his back is exposed, the color of which harmonizes with the brown of the withered grass. The other plan, that he uses when discovered and pursued, is to create remoteness between himself and his pursuer. In. giving his whole attention to this matter, when necessary, he is stupen- dous success, and earnest to fault When disturbed he unlimbers his long legs, unfurls his ears, and goes of with a bound. He generally stops after running about 100 yards and looks back to see if his pursuer is enjoy ing the chase as much as he thought he 1 should, and then he leaves for parts unknown. There are many fast things, from an ice boat | to a note maturing in bank, 1t nothing to equal the jack-rabbit. An infound d rumor gets | around pretty lively, but could not keep up with him two blocks. When an ordinary l cur dog tries to expedite jack-rabbit route he makes humiliating failure of it. He only gives the rabbit gentle exercise. The latte merely throws up his ears, and, under e-sy sail, skins leisurely along. tacking occahon- ally to give the funeral procession Anne to ! catch up. But if you want to sec velocity | urgent speed and precipitated haste, you have only to turn loose greyhound m the | wake of jack-rabbit. Pursued by grey I hound he will ''let himself out" in manner That vgnr!171 a->"tis.arelfrate mes sage If he is a rabbit that never had an,
 experience with a greyhound before, he vii start off at an easy pace, but as he turns to
 wink derisively at what he supposes to be an
 ordinary yellow dog. he realizes that there k
 force in nature hitherto unknown to him
 and his look of astonishment, alarm and dis
 trust as he furls his ears and promptly de
 elines the nomination, is amusing. Under such circumstances he goes too fast for the eye to follow his movements, and presents the optical illusion of a streak of iack-rabbi
 mile and half long.