Title: Brehm's Life of animals : a complete natural history for popular home instruction and for the use of schools. Mammalia
Identifier: brehmslifeofanim1896breh (find matches)
Year: 1896 (1890s)
Authors: Brehm, Alfred Edmund, 1829-1884; Pechuel-Loesche, Edward, 1840-1913; Haacke, Wilhelm, 1855-1912; Schmidtlein, Richard
Subjects: Mammals; Animal behavior
Publisher: Chicago : Marquis
Contributing Library: Internet Archive
Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive

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Change of the "When the Alps are buried in snow Fur of the Aipine jn December this Hare is as purely Hare. white as the snow itself, only the tips of the ears remaining black. The spring sun- shine induces a very remarkable change of color, this change beginning in March. The animal first becomes dark on the back, and gray hairs appear more and more numerously amid the white of the flanks. In April it has a queer, pie-bald appearance. The dark brown hue gains more ground every day, and finally in May the change is complete, the color being uniform and not mottled like that of the Com-
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THE ALPINE HARE. This animal with its white winter coat is a very appropriate inhabitant of the snowy regions of the Alps. In the summer the coat is dark brown, but in winter it is all white except the margins of the ears. These are very pretty creatures, agile, easily frightened, and always active. (Lepus timidus.) mon Hare, the fur of which is of a coarser texture than that of the Alpine Hare. In autumn the first white hairs appear with the first snow; but as winter reaches its climax in less time than does spring in the Alps, the change is wrought more rapidly, and is completed sometime during the period extending from the beginning of October to the middle of November. When the Chamois becomes black, its neighbor, the Hare, turns white. The Alpine Hare is commonly found in all the higher Alpine regions, where it is at least as numerous as is the brown Hare in the lower belt. Its favorite country lies between the point at which the fir-trees cease to grow and the line of perpetual snow, at about the same altitude as is favored by the Snow-Hen or Ptarmigan and the Marmot, from 4,800 to 7,800 feet above the sea; it may sometimes range much higher, however. "The female gives birth to from two to five young, which are no larger than Mice and have a white spot on Tlie first litter usually appears in April or May, the second in July or August; there arc doubts as to whether there is a third. It is nearly impossible to observe their family life, as the power of scent of these animals is so delicate and the young know so well how to hide in all crevices The Propagation of Alpine Hares. the forehead. and crannies that the spectator can not long remain concealed from the alert animals, or have an oppor- tunity to observe for any length of time their domes- tic routine. The Aipine Hare "A surprising fact is that the Alpine Easily Domes- Hare is more tamable than the Com- ticated. mon Hare; it behaves more quietly and shows greater confidence, but seldom endures long and fails to get fat even with the most abun- dant nourishment. It misses in the valley below the rarefied air of the upper Alps. It turns white in winter in confinement also. Its fur is not valuable, but its flesh is very toothsome." The Rabbit (Lepus cuni- cuius) differs from the Hares proper in its much smaller physical propor- tions — a more slender frame, shorter head, shorter ears and shorter hind legs. The length of the body of the ani- mal is sixteen inches, nearly three inches of which are occupied by the tail. The ear is shorter than the head and if pressed forward and downward along the cheek it does not reach to the point of the muz- zle. The tail is black above, white beneath, and the remainder of the body is covered by a gray fur, dashed with yellow-brown above, reddish yellow in front, light rusty on the flanks and thighs and merging into white on the under surface, the throat and the inner sides of the limbs. The upper part of the throat is of a rusty yellow grayish hue, the nape of the neck is palpably of a rusty red color. Variations in coloration seem to occur more rarely than with the Common Hare. Original Nearly all naturalists suppose the Home of the original home of the Rabbit to be Rabbit. southern Europe and that it was introduced by transplantation into all portions of Europe north of the Alps. Pliny mentions it under the name of Cuniculus, Aristotle calls it Dasypus. All old authors name Spain as its native country. Present At present the wild Rabbit is dis- Rangeofthe tributed throughout southern and fiabbit. central Europe and is quite plentiful in some places. The countries of the Mediterranean are infested by the species in enormous numbers, though it is pursued there all the year round and spared in none of the seasons. In England it was introduced into several localities for sporting pur- poses and was held in high esteem at first, as late as 1309 a wild Rabbit cost as much as a little Pig. In northern countries it does not thrive. Attempts to introduce it into Russia and Sweden have been futile Requisites for The Rabbit requires for its domicile the Rabbit's a hilly and sandy country, broken Domicile. Dy ravines, rocks and shrubbery, in short, offering sheltered spots where it can hide it- x<^v^-^v

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