New-York tribune., 1912-03-24
IN THE YEAR OF NO RABBITS

TT was the hungry year; for all the flesh eating
i kindred of the northern wilds year of CcaScleSS
ambush of strained vigilance, of unprecedentedly
savage eud In this year every truce was broken For
it was the year of no rabbits
As happens in awhile, myStenOuSly the swarm
ing hordes of them had vanished, as if wiped out by
pestilencc, exiled in mass, inexoraby, by some
caprice of the unseen Powers And so, red anarchy in
the wild For the rabbit the great rcConCe the great
keeper of the peace 1t is he that keeps life
less regulated for the icrccy individual and ungovern-
able hunters and prowlers; for to his ncxhaustble fer
tty and to the food supply afforded by his myriads,
are all their lives atuncd Their wants satisfied by
this facile chase they can afford to save themselves
trouble by avoiding another at times by respecting,
to certain extent anohcrS ranges, and so eScap
ing the risk of dangerous and doubtful encounters Few
of the wild creatures with the exception of certain males
in the mating season. care fight for fghtings sake,
TO Oin battle, unless in defense of their young with
antagonist of anything like equal powers. victory
too costly is almost bad for them defeat; for it
leaves them weakened, that they fall prey to the
next foe that chances along.
In these circumstances it is not strange that there
should be signs among the greater beasts of something
like truce where their helpless young concerned.
1t is no matter of good will by any means but of
mon prudence merely; for when their young are
threatened the weak dangerous and the strong
become mplacablc in their vengeance. In general,
therefore, among equals the radng of nurseries is not
regarded as good hunting. The peril is too great for
the profit
But when the rabbits were gone all that was changed
Then any hunting was good hunting.
1t is hard TO realize that little, palptang, bulging
eyed Bunny could exert vast an influence on the
economy of the wilderness; but there none
strong naughty to rest Indifferent to his going
Even man himself touched; for the foxes and the
wildcats drew in about the settlements and harricd the
henrooStS and pastures of the outlying farms. The
great herb caers-the red deer the caribou and the
gigantic moose himSclf-wcre not exempt from the sud
den anarchy; for the and the caribou had to
guard their young with vigilance hitherto undrcamed
Of and the weaker deer discovered that enemies he had
been wont TO dcSpse had all at grown formidable
OF all the wilderness dwcers the bears, perhaps
least affected. They had never taken more than
chance interest in quarry elusive the nimbe rab
bit; and flesh food never essential TO them so long
roots and fruits and fungi grubs and beetles, ants
and honey were to be found in the forest And when
the craving for flesh was not to be denied it big
game they hunted such deer the settlers sheep
or some strayed hefer that had lost her bell But for
all their ordliness Of independence, the bears were
forced to take count Of Master Rabbits departure
They afraid 10 go any distance from their dens,
lest in their absence greatly daring lynx or fox or
fisher should slip in and kill the cubs.
1t was perhaps, on the other hand, the ynxes that
suffered most They with the weasels, were the most
assduous hunters of the rabbit; and they somewhat
lacked the weasels adaptabity and craft. They are
rather set in their ways the ynxes and though more
savage and vastly more formidable than their smaller
cousins, the Wildcats they are at the time far
shyer of man and all his works Instead of following
the foxes and wildcats into the frnges OF the settle