The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1882-01-07
The lacS Rabbit Of Texas.

From the Austin Tex Sioiugs. [
The iack-mhbit is an mhabitaut .
Of Texas, and of some other West
eru States. lie is often called the
muIe-eared rabbit lie is not a
rabbit at all. A rabbit is an unob-
strusive little animal, whois found
by sehoolboys in a hole in the
ground at the end of a long track
in the snow. The so called jack
rabbit is quite a different kind of
soup-meat. He is identical with
the British hare except that he is
larger, his color lighter, and his
ears much longer. His ay0irdu-
rois is about II pounds, and his
ears measure, from tip to tip, about
10 inches. lie does not burrow IN
the ground. He lies ander cover
/ of a bunch of prarie grass, but is
very seldom found at home, his
Office hours being between sunset
aud sunrise. He is 10 be found
during the day on the open prarie
where he feeds on the tender
shoots of the mesquite or sage
grass. lie is not u fer0eious ami
NAL, ms stranger might be led to
suppose from examination Of wha'
purports to he his picture under
the alias Of the "TeXim lIare,n il
COY. Roberts book. The jackrab
bit has several enemies, amonI
them the cowboy, who shoot
him with his rifle, the coyote ant
. the dog, that try TO run him dow
. and the Governor of Texas, abov
alluded 60, who lihels him in hi
= book. lie has two ways of pre-
tecting himselfagainst his enemies
" One way is TO squat when he su'
y poets danger and fold his ear
Y along his sides. By doing this b
often escapes observation, as onl
y his back is exposed, the color {
. which harmonizcs with the brow
y of the withered grass. The othC
= plan, that he uses when discoye
= ed and pursued, is to create r,
:" moteness between himself and Ii
" pursuer In giving his whole q
- tention to this matter, when nece
y sary, he is a gtupcudous succe'
y and earnest to fault. When di
" turbed be mlimbers his long les
~ unfurls lis ears, and goes Off wit
y a bound. He generally stops aft
D' running about n hundred yards N
v looks back to see If his pursu'
III is enjoying the chase as much
II he thought he would, and then
.e leaves for parts unknown. The
~ are many fast things, from an ie
"a boat to a note maturing in u
bank, but nothing to equal u
: iackrabbit. An unfoundedrm
y gets around pretty lively, b
~ could not keep up with him 4
~ two blocks. When an ordina
=. cur dog tries to expedite a iac
y rabbit route he makes a humili
j ting failure of it.
u lie only gives the rabbit gent
u exercise. The latter merely thro,
j, mp his cars, aud under easy 50
sa skins lcisurely along, taeking g
!. casionally to give the funeral n
Il cession time to catch up. But
- you want TO see velocity, urge
m speed, precipitate haste, you ha
4 only to turn loose a grey hound
af the wake of a .iackrrabbit. p
=, sued by a grey hound he will 81
himself OUT in a manner tli
u would astopish a prepaid half-ra
y :, message. If he Is a rabbit III
I, has never had any experience vi
& II grey hound before, he will Sta
Il off at an easy pace, but as he tur
g to wink derisively at what he 50
n poses to be an ordinary yellow d
{, he realizes that there isa force
3 I nature hitherto unknown to hi
/, and bis look Of astonislmei
II alarm, and disgust, as he fllrls
q ear and promptly declines the no
4 nation, is amusing Under SIT
81 circumstances he goes too fast !
! the eye to follow his movement
~ and presents the optical Illusion
~ a streak Of jack-rabbit q mile a
HI a half long.