The Red Cloud chief., 1882-03-02

\ reader Of the CHHEF aho unfo,tu-
nately lives in the benigh'eI land eaS;
OF the Mississippi river, writes Us ,o
known ii there really j. such AN ami
NAL as tie jack-ratbit. and SAWS that
he has always considered -aii animal
a myth, having an existence only
IN the minds OF travellers and story
writer's"
Wrong, my friend. Nil wrong. The
Jack-rabblt = al iuhIhitant Of western
Nebraska and other portions OF the
Great American Desert He i
often called the mulc-eared rabbit.
and by Mark Twain. Henry Ward
Bcecher, Joe. CARRIER and other COW
boys lie Is familiarity spoken Of rs the
Jackass-rabbit. The jack-rahbit l.
i!entica! with the British hare. except
that he Is larger. He weighs. when
fat from twelve to twenty pounds. and
his ears measure from tig 70 tip about
sixteen inches. He does not hurruw
III the ground. He lies under Il bunch
OF prairie grass, but Is very seldom
found nj home, his Office hours helm.
between sunset and sunrise. He is 70
be found during the day on the open
prairie, where he feeds on the tender
buffalo grass. The ~jack-rahb!t has
several enemies, among which are the
cvOtc and a certain class Of So-cIllcI
business men Indigenous To western
towns, who having more dogs than
brains. try t. run him down. He has
TWO WAYS OF protecting himself against
when he suspects danger and fold his
ears along hi sides. BY doing this he
often ESCAPES observation, a. only his
back j, exposed, the color of which
h~armonizcs with the brown Of the
witllcred grass. The other plan that
he uses when discovered and pursued
Is To create IL remotcnesS between him
self ami purSucr. In giving his whole
attention 10 this matter when ncceS>-
airy, he is 4 stupcndouS success and
earnest to Il fault. When disturbed
he unlimbcrS hi, long LEGS, %unfurls his
ears and goes of with Il bound. lie
generally stops after running about
100 wards and looks back to see If hi,
pursuer is enjoying the chase as much
as himself, then he leaves for parts
unknown.
There are many fast things, among
which we might mention Il note ma
turing in the bank, but nothing to
equal the jack-rabbit. An unfoundcd
rumor gets around pretty lively, but
could not keep up with him for two
blocks. When an ordinary cur dog
tries to expedite Il jack-rabbit route
he makes a humiliating failure Of it.
He only gives the rabbit gentle cxcr-
else. The latter merely throws up
his ears, and, under easy sail, skins
icl>urely along, lacking occasionally
to give the procession time to catch
up. Bat if YOU want to see velocity,
urgent speed and prccipitatcd haste.
You have only to turn loose Il grey
hound in the wake>of a iack-rahhit.
Pursued 10y a greyhound he will let
himself ont in Il ann that would
astOnlsn 4 message OF a western tcle-
graph line. If he is a rabbit that
never has had any experience with II
greyhound before, he will start off at
an easy pace. but rs he turns to wink
dcri>ivcly at what he supposcs To he
an ordinary yellow dog, he realizes
there Is a pace in nature hitherto un-
known to him. and the look of aston
l>hment, alarm and disgust. rs hc
fur!S his ears and promptly declines
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 jack-rabbit 4 mile and n half
long.