The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1882-02-01

The jack rabbit h an inhabitant OF
Iexas and ofso other Western states.
He b often called the''mule cared rab-
| spoken Of q the ''muley." He is not =
rabbit 1t oil. A rabbit IL IN unobtru-
sive little animal, who Is found by
!'Dch0ol boys in . hole in the ground, ut
the end Of . long track in the snow.
The % called jack Tabit IL quite differ
! ellt kind Of sOup-meat. He IL identical
with the British hare, except that he il
larger, his color lighter, and his ears
much longer. His av0irlupois IL about
twelve pounds. and his ears measure
from tip to tip about sixteen inches. He
does not burrOw in the ground. He lies
under cover Of bunch Of prairie grass,
but il very seldom found ut home. his
Office hours being between sunset and
sunrise. He is to he found during the
day on the OPEN prairie, where he feeds
ON the tendershOOts of mesquite or sagc
grase. He 10 not ferociOus animal, III
stranger might Ike led to suppose from
an examination of what purpOrts to he
his picture, under the alias of 1.-The
Texan Hare" In Gov. Roberts bOok.
The jack rabbit has several enemies,
among them the cowboy, who shoots
them with his rifle, the coyote and the
dog. that try to run him down, and the
ff0venOr of Texas, above alluded tn, who
libels him in his lNNk. He has two
ways Of protecting himself against his
enemies. One Way is to squat when he
suspects danger, and fold his cars along
his sides. BY doing this he often e:,-
exposed, the color of which harnlOniZes
l,pr>xs.,, <0,.,
The other plan that he uses when dis
covered and pursued, is to create r.
lnOteness between himself and the pur-
surer In giving his whole attention
to this matter, when it is necessary, he
il stupendOus success, and earnest to
fault. When disturbed he unlimbers
his long legs, unfurls his ears and goes
off with bound. He generally stops
after running about . hundred yards,
and looks back to see ii his pllrSucr Is
enjoying the chase ~ much as he thought
he would; and then he leaves for parts
unknown. There are many fast things
from an ice boat to Il note maturing in
the hank, but nothing to equal the jack
rabbit. I'm ::no1n':c.! u!Mor gets
around pretty lively, but c.,ul! not keep
M with him for two blocks. When All
ordinary dog tries to cxlsslitea jack rail-
bit route, he makes a hunlilia:ing fail
ure of it. He only gives the rabbit gem
tie exercise. The latter merely throws
up his ears and, skins lcisurely along,
under easy sail, lacking occasionally to
give thu funeral procession time to catch
up. hut ii you want to see velocity,
urgent speed and precipitate haste, you
have only to turn loose u greyhound in
the wake OF jack rabbit. Pursued by
Il greyhound. he will let ''l'inself out"
in u manner that would astOnish pre-
paid ha!f-ratc message. Ii he is Il ral'-
hit that never had any experience with
q greyhound before he will start Oft ut
an easy pace, hut as hc turns t" wink
tlcrisively ut what he stlpptses to l'e an
ordinary yellow dog lie realizes that
there il force Of nature hitlicrt" ul,-
known, to him, and his look oi ast"nisll-
ment, alarm and disgust, as he f,lrls his
cars, ami promptly declines the n"n'i-
nation, Is amusing. Cn'icr such cir"unl-
stances; he goes ton fast for the eye tn
follow his movements, and presents the
optical illusion of a streak .. jack rss'-
bits u mile and Il half long.