The young, varying from two to seven, are born in nests made of dry leaves, grasses, and other suitable vegetation, warmly lined with hair from the mother’s body, and usually hidden under brush or in dense vegetation. The young, which have their eyes open and are fully furred at birth, within a few days leave the nest and move freely about. Although the mother snowshoe rabbit will defend her young at first even at the risk of her life, when they are half grown she leaves them to shift for themselves. Young hares of various ages when caught often utter shrill squealing cries of fright and the older animals when wounded and caught sometimes do the same. Perhaps through living so constantly in low ground, among swamps and along streams, varying hares become less averse to entering water than most of their kind. In the delta of the Yukon River I saw many places where they had crossed small streams in spring, their wet tracks entering and leaving the water, thus furnishing unmistakable evidence. Curiously enough, when caught by a flood they will take refuge on stumps or other support and often remain to starve rather than swim ashore. In summer, owing to their nocturnal habits and the dense thickets they inhabit, varying hares are rarely seen unless they are unusually plentiful. In winter their presence is known by their conspicuous tracks, leading in every direction through their haunts. A single animal will in one night so thoroughly track the snow in a patch of woods it gives the impression that several must have been there. In river bottoms, among densely wooded swamps, these rabbits frequently make definite beaten runways in the snow; runways are also made through thickets in their summer haunts. This habit renders it easy to snare them, and enormous numbers are thus captured every winter. They feed on a variety of small herbage in summer and in winter depend on buds, twigs, and the bark of shrubs and small trees. They are specially fond of willows, and their winter distribution in many districts is governed by the abundance of willow thickets. Varying hares are one of the most important mammals of the northern fur country. They are generally distributed and exist in such numbers that they are an important source of food supply both to the Indians and to such predatory birds and mammals as the great horned and snowy owls, the goshawk, gyrfalcon, lynx, fox, ermine, fisher, and others. The skins are also used by the Indians for robes. [Illustration: FOOTPRINTS OF THE VARYING HARE, OR SNOWSHOE RABBIT The great size of the feet from which the creature is named is a strong feature of the track, distinguishing it from that of the cottontail and others (see pages 489 and 507).]