The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1882-01-30
Psouliarities Of the American Jack Rabbit,

feou1L3f1tles OF 6no American JACK daDnl6V
The jack rabbit is an inhabitant oi
Texas and some other Western States.
He is often called the ssmule-eared rab-
Bit and, by the cowboy, Familiarity
spoken Of as the 'smuley.n He is not q
rabbit at all. A rabbit is an unobtrus-
i've little animal, who is found by school
boys, in hole in the ground, at the end
OF long track in the snow The So
called jack rabbit is quite different
kind of soup-meat. He is identical with
the British hare, except that he is larger,
his color lighter, and his ears mnch
longer. His avoirdupois is about twelve
pounds, and bis ears measure, from tip
to tip, about sixteen inches. He does
not burrow in the ground. He lies IN
der cover of a bunch of prairie grass,
but is very seldom found at home, his
office hours being between sunset and
sunrise. He is to be found during the
day on the open prairie, where he feeds
on the tender shoots of the mesquite OF
sage grass. He is not ferocious ami
nal. as stranger might be led to sup
pose from an examination of what pur-
ports to be his picture, under the alias
of seThe Texan Hare
The jack rabbit has many enemies,
among them the cowboy, who shoots
him with his rifle, and the coyote and
the dog, who try to run him down. He
has two ways of protecting himself
against his enemies. One way is to
squat, when he suspects danger, and
folds his ears along his sides. By doing
this he often escapes observation, 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 necess-
airy, he is a stupendous success, and
earnest to fault When disturbed, be
unlimbers his long legs, unfurls his ears,
and goes off with bound. He general
~ stops after running about a 100 yards.
and looks back to see if his pursuer is
enjoying the chase as much as he
thought he would, and then he leaves
for parts unknown.
There are many fast things, from an
ice boat to note maturing in bank,
but nothing to equal the jack rabbit.
An unfounded rumor gets around pref
ty lively, but could not keep up with
him for two blocks. When an ordinary
cur dog tries to expedite q jack rabbit
route, he makes a humiliating failure OF
it.
He only gives the rabbit gentle exer-
else. The latter merely throws up his
ears and, under easy sail, Skins leisure
ly along, lacking occasionally to give
the funeral procession time to catch up.
But if you want to see velocity, urgent
speed, and precipitated haste you have
only to turn loose a greyhound in the
wake of jack rabbit. Pursued by
greyhound he viii 'slet himself OUT in
a manner that would astonish prepaid
half-rate message. II he is a rabbit
that has never had any experience with
a greyhound before, he will 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 is force in nature hitherto I'M
known to him, and his look OF, astonish-
ment, alarm. and disgust, as he furls
his ears and promptly declines the NOM
ination, is amusing. Under such cir.
cumstances he goes too fast for the eye
to follow his movements, and presents
the optical Illusion of streak of jack
rabbit mile and half long.