The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-12-04
Rabbit System
OF Telegraph.
TRAINING BUNNY.
Biographical Sketch Of Two
Cottontail Rabbits.

Molly had no other children to look
after now, SO Rag had all her care.
He was unusually quick and bright as
well as strong, and he had unc6mmon-
ly good chances; so he got on remark
ably well.
All the season she kept him busy
learning the tricks of the trail, and
what to eat and drink and what not
to touch. Day by day she worked
to train him; little by little she taught
him, putting into his mind hundreds of
ideas that her own life or early train
ing had stored in her, and so equipped
him with the knowledge that makes
life possible to their kind, says Ernest
Seton Thompson in wild Animals l
Have known
Close by her side in the clover field
or the thicket, ne would sit and copy
her when she Wobbled her nose ito
keep her smeller clear and pull the
bite from her mouth or taste her lips
to make sure he was getting the same
kind of fodder. Still copying her, he
learned to comb his ears with his claws
and to dress his coat and to bite the
burrs out of his vest and socks. He
learned, too, that nothing but clear
dewdrOps from the briars were fit for
a rabbit to drink, as water which has
once touched the earth must surely
| bear some faint Thus he began the
study of Woodcraft, the oldest of all
sciences.
AS soon as Rag was big enough to
go out alone, his mother taught him
the signal code Rabbits telegraph
each other by humping on the ground
with their hind feet. Along the
ground sound carries far; thump that
at six feet from the earth is not heard
at twenty yards will, near the ground,
| be heard at least one hundred yards.
| Rabbits have very keen hearing, and
| SO might hear this same thump two
| hundred yards, and that would reach
! from end to end of Olifant's swamp.
A single thump means, Look OUT" or
| "Freeze!" A slow thump, thump
means "Come!" A fast thump, thump
means Danger and a very fast
thump, thump, thump means Run for
dear lifei"
| At another time, when the weather
was fine and the bluejays were quar-
reling among themselves, a sure sign
that no dangerous foe was about, Rag
began a new study. Molly, by fiatten-
ing her ears, gave the sign to squat
| Then she ran far away in the thicket
and gave the humping signal for
i come" Rag set out at a run for the
| place, but could not find Molly. He
| thumped, but got no reply. Setting
carefully about his search, he found
her foot scent and, following this
/ strange guide that the beasts all know
SO well and man does not know at all,
he worked out the trail and found her
| where she was hidden. Thus he got
| his first lesson in trailing, and thus it
was that the games of hide and seek
| they played became the schooling for
| the serious chase of which there was
so much life in his after life.
| Before that first season of schooling
was over he had learned all the prin-
| cipal tricks by which a rabbit lives,
and in not a few problems showed him
self veritable genius.
He was taught the signs by which
to know all his foes and then the way
| to battle them. For hawks, owls.
foxes, hounds, ours, minks, Weasels,
cats, skunks, coons and men, each have
a different plan of pursuit and for each
and all of these evils he was taught a
i remedy.
And for knowledge of the enemy's
Il approach he learned to depend first on
/ himself and his mother, and then on
the blueiay. Never neglect the blue
lays warning" said Molly, "he is a
mischief maker, a marplot and d thief
all the time, but nothing escapes him.
II He wouldn't mind harming us, but he
can not, thanks to the briers, and his
enemies are ours, so it is well to heed
him. If the Woodpecker cries a warn
ing, you can trust him, he is honest,
but he is a fool beside the bluejay: and
though the bluejay often tells lies for
1 mischief, you are safe to believe him
i when he brings i'll news"
i The barb-wire trick takes a good deal
4 of nerve and the best of legs. 1t was
long before he Ventured to play it, but
as he came to his full powers it became
one Of his faVorites
/ It's fine play for those who can do
4 it," said Molly. 'F'irst you lead off
; your dog on a straightaway and warm
him up a bit by nearly letting him
catch you. Then keeping just one hop
ahead you lead at a long slant full
tilt, into a breast-high barbWire. I've
! seen many a dog and fox crippled, and
one big hound killed outright this
way. But I've also seen more than one
rabbit lose his life in trying it.
Rag early learnt what some rabbits
never learn at all, that "hole-up' is
not such q fine rlNe as it seems; it may
be the certain safety Of Il wise rabbit,
4 but soon or late is a sure death-trap
to a fool. A young RABBIT always
4 thinks of it first; an old rabbit never
tries it till all others fail. 1t means
! escape from a man or dog, a fox or a
bird of prey but it means sudden death
if the foe is d ferret, mink, skunk or
| weasel.
Bright August sunlight was flooding
the swamp in the morning. Everything
seemed soaking in the warm radiance.
A little brown swamp sparrow was tee
tering on a long rush in the pond. Be
meath him there were open spaces of
q dirty water that brought down a few
icraps of the blue sky, and worked it
and the yellow duckWeed into an eX-
uisite mosaic with a little WrOng-Side
,f fl1a ipH in n
u he bank behind was a great vigorous
, growth Of golden green skunk cabbage,
That cast dense shadow over the brown
swamp tussocks.
The eyes of the swamp sparrow were
not trained to take in the color glor-
4 les. but he saw what we might have
i missed that two of the numberleSS
4 eafy brown bumps under the broad
II cabbage leaves were furry living
things, with noses that never ceased
II o move uD and down whatever else
i was SILL.
1t was Molly and Rag. They were
/ stretched under the skunk-cabbage, not
because they liked its rank smell, but
because the winged ticks could not
stand it at all and SO left them in
| peace.
Rabbits have no set time for lessons,
they are always learning; but what the
| lesson is depends on the present stress,
| and that must arrive before it is known.
| They went to this place for a quiet
rest, but had not been long there when
| suddenly warning note from the ever
| aatchful blue jay caused Molly's nose
| and ears to go up and her tail to
tighten to her back. Alvey across the
swamp was Olifants big black and
| white dog. coming straight toward
| them. Now" said Molly, squat while
L so and keep that fool cut of misch ef.'
Away she went to meet him as she
| fearlessly dashed across the dogs path.
"Bow-ow-ow,' he fairly yelled as he