It is a
mass of bushes and bramble-tangles and is the safest place I know
of. I have cut little paths all through it just big enough for
Mrs. Peter and myself. None of our enemies can get at us there,
excepting Shadow the Weasel or Billy Mink. I have a sort of nest
there where I spend my time when I am not running about. It is
called a form and I sit in it a great deal."
"In summer I eat clover, grass and other green things, and I just
love to get over into Farmer Brown's garden. In winter I have to
take what I can get, and this is mostly bark from young trees,
buds and tender twigs of bushes, and any green plants I can find
under the snow. I can run fast for a short distance, but only for
a short distance. That is why I like thick brush and bramble-
tangles. There I can dodge. I don't know any one who can beat me
at dodging. If Reddy Fox or Bowser the Hound surprises me away
from the dear Old Briar-patch I run for the nearest hollow log or
hole in the ground. Sometimes in summer I dig a hole for myself,
but not often. It is much easier to use a hole somebody else has
dug. When I want to signal my friends I thump the ground with my
hind feet. Jumper does the same thing. I forgot to say I don't
like water."
Old Mother Nature smiled. "You are thinking of that cousin of
yours, the Marsh Rabbit who lives way down in the Sunny South,"
said she.
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