The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-23
UNUSUAL HOUSE PETS.
FRANKS OF LITTLE NAN" AND
TOMMY THE VOLE.
Fun TO Be Had In Catching q Wild Bsby
Rabbit and bringing u Up-rtvepsr
and More Intelligent Than It's rAmc
BROTHER History Of q Field Mouse.

and More Intelligent Than It's Tame
Brother History OF q Field Nous
A man who captured a wild baby rabbit
and made a pet of it says that people whose
experience is limited to the stolid, hoppy
anne rabbit can nave no idea OF the i'm
telligenoe and vivacity of a tanned wild
rabbit. He brought up his protege by hand.
giving him, for some reason, the name OF
Little Man.
Whenever we sat down TO tea, he says
in the Grand Magazine, "the Little Man
would jump up on the table. 1t was very
pretty to see him do this. He sat up hks
a kangaroo aud with one glance TO SEQ
that all was clear, bounded from the door,
~alighting as gently as a featheron the table
CLOTH | "-'
Running to the sugar basin, he would
seize the largest lump visible and scuttie
of with it. 1t sometimes happened that
the sugar tongs lay across the edge OF the
basin in such a manner as TO prevent him
reaching the sugar. He always solved
the difficulty by lifting them of with his
teeth, and with an indignant toss Of his
head sending them flying. Although he
was very seldom allowed more than one
lump, he would be onthe table a good many
times attempting to- 6}ch another. bus
never did he upset a cup, aucer plate OF
even a teaspoon. sn'
"In the evenings, when my mother was
busy with needlework, his great delight
ives 10 get at her workbasket. Once or
twice he was inadvertently left alone in
the room. This was his opportunity,
Table and floor were soon strewn with
reels OF cotton, packets OF, needles, skeins
OF worsted, pieces of whalebone, buttons
in fact. with all the Heterogeneous odds
and ends that are TO be found in a work.
basket. All hands had to set to work 10
collect the scattered art icles.
On one occasion we overlooked q little
blue paper packet containing very fine
needles. Next morning this was found
lying on the floor, but every needle had
lost its point. We at first imagined he had
bitten the points of, but maturer reheo-
ton tells me that he must have held the
needles bv the ends and, pressing them on
the toor, snapped the points of. .
You cannot very well c8sJigate a rabbit,
but when the Little Man did anything OF
which we .disapproved we shouted at him
or banged our hands loudly on the table
20 lot him know he had miSbehaved him.
self. When we did this-as, for instance,
after the workbasket incident-he would
give a snort Of contempt and a stamp of
defiance and would then rush around the
room like a mad thing, occasionally leap
ing high In the air and giving his body q
peculiar twist, which plainly meant In
rabbit language, i don't care for you or
your old workbasket either
-0f warm tea and coffee he was very fond,
and would eat bread and butter, cake, bis
cults, or almost anything except animal
food. His staple diet consisted Of oats, q
saucerful OF these being always placed in
the kitchen so that he could help himself
when he liked.
On more than one occasion the CORN
chandler sent us oats which were slightly
musty. Not a grain of these would the
; Little Man even taste: He contemptuously
lifted the saucer with his teeth and scattered
I the contents all over the floor.
There was nothing the rabbit enjoyed
more than a noisy, boisterous game. II l
crumpled up an old letter or any piece OF
stiff paper, he would come running up for IL.
4 would hold 1t toward him and pretend to
resist his efforts to drag it out OF my hand,
till at last | let him nave it.
II would go racing around the roomhold-
ing the ball OF paper in his mouth, with
me after him. Tn more noise L made the
better he liked il, and his approval would
be shown by stamps and snorts of the ut
most vehemence.
when 1 had had enough OF it I would
retire TO a chair and leave him to his own
devices. He would continue the sport
until he had torn the paper into Fragments,
when, thoroughly tired out, be would Jump
on my knee, creep under my jacket. and go
fast asleep.
Il could never discover how this stamping
of the foot was done. When I commenced
crumpling the paper he would sit on tbs
floor in front Of me with one ear cooked
up, looking as cheeky as possible. Some
times I would rustic the paper in the air,
and he would reply with one bang on the
ioor-as much as TO say, l am ready when
you are.
"Now, although he was close to me and
| was watching to find out how he did IL,
| never could detect any movement OF the
body. l am sure the noise was made by
, one hind leg only, but il seemed TO me that
he always used the leg that was concealed
from me by the position Of his body.
-Of one thing / am certain. This stamp
on the earth, given by an alarmed rabbit,
would reverberate through their burrows
for some distance, and would give instant
warning Of danger to those below.
He never nibbled the carpets, mats or
anything lying on the ground; but a table
cloth, the lower edge of coat or any article
that hung over his head seemed to be ire
sistible. He would raise himself just to the
right height, touch the coat with his mouth,
there would be an almost im~perceptible
movement of the jaws. n that was ALL
excepting that you would find a little semi
circular piece of your coat gone. 1t was
lone in an instant.
IF he went for a run in the garden, n Of
us was always there 10 keep him out Of
mischief. The choicest flowers and foliage
would be devoured, or he would burrow
under the garden wall.
"The Little Man was most particular
about his personal appearance. He was
constantly attending to his fur and his coat
was always wonderfully glossy and spot
lessly clean
Another writer tells in the same magazine
Of capturing a family of baby voles, as he
calls them. The vole is generally described
as a sort of water rat, hat In the present
instance the name would seem to be used
in referring to field mice.
The four little creatures were kept az
night in a box lined with hay and according
TO their keeper they relieved the dark
watches of the night by devouring their
hedding-the hay. Three Of them finally
gnawed a hole through the back Of their
dormitory. At least three OF them departed
BY way OF this hole. The fourth, known AZ
Tommy, preferred to remain,
He became a very c-ompanionable beastie.
When his master came 20 the box, took
of the lid and called Tommy Tommyis
the little fellow would scramble out on 10
the mans foot, thence up his trousers leg
at1J ~ oufIa In his d nj II