FROM THE ARCHIVES-January 13, 2009-RABBITS AND HARE 2009

 

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

RABBITS AND HARE 2009

Above (clockwise) the hounds blow across the beaver flow after an Appalachian Cottontail rabbit. Andy Hoover, across the beaver flow, looks on, wondering and hoping the ice is thick enough to hold the hounds. An authentic Appalachian Cottontail rabbit dashes across the ice. And, Little Toby Creek Blacky, veteran of many a rabbit                                                                          chase crashes up the creek bank at full voice.

TALLY HO!! and GREETINGS from THE HIGH PLATEAU of THE ALLEGHENY,

I am finally able to report some good news.

Last Friday, although we ("Old" Jim, Andy and myself) did not find a Snowshoe Hare we did manage to find two hard running Appalachian Cottontail rabbits. The two Appalachians took the hounds around and around for almost three (3) hours running it like a tag team event. Finally, some good exercise for the hounds. The "A" Team did an outstanding job.

The "A" Team consists of; Andy's Nellie and Molly and my Patch, Gracie and Blacky. Jim's Lucky dog had hitched a ride home and was in the pen.

Then on Saturday, Jim, Andy and I took, Molly, Nellie, Lucky, Patch, Gracie and Speckles to one of our old reliable places because of the impending storm and found an Omnipotent Snowshoe Hare. The hounds once again did an outstanding and superior job while chasing the old hare for over three (3) hours. Andy had confirmed sightings on three different occasions. Because of the weather we caught the hounds and headed in. It was another great day!

Yesterday, Monday, Andy and I ventured onto the High Plateau in search of yet another Snowshoe Hare chase. The hounds once again were doing their great job of searching but after five hours it was beginning to look fruitless. But, much to the handlers surprise the hounds hit a hare and the chase was on. Beautiful hound music rang across the Allegheny High Plateau for more than three (3) hours before we called off the hounds. It was getting late and darkness would soon be setting in. At one point during the chase it sounded like the hounds were ready to eat the poor little hare. I made the sighting and what a beautiful white hare it was. The woods was full of fresh snow making it difficult to see very far. I was very fortunate to catch a fleeting glimpse.

In case you have never heard of an "Appalachian Cottontail" or "Allegheny Cottontail" rabbit let me explain by reprinting here an article I wrote for the Rabbit Hunter magazine or one of them back in September of 2003.

THE APPALACHIAN COTTONTAIL
By Joe Ewing, Sr.

This article may be copied or used as you  because you have my permission as it is my property.

This article was written and published in a 2003 issue of THE RABBIT HUNTER magazine. In 2015 I retold this epic story and again it was published in THE RABBIT HUNTER and other magazines with updated information. There is now new and revealing infromation regarding the Appalachian cottontail so I've written another article about the Appalachain which may be published in THE RABBIT HUNTER this fall. This is the story from 2003.

THE APPALACHIAN COTTONTAIL

Writing by

Joe Ewing

High HareMan

Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny

August 24, 2020 writer's note: Old hare hunter Jim Hanson passed a few years ago and now hunts with that phantom pack of hare hounds we have all known and loved which roams the Allegheny on many clear moonlit nights in the dead of winter. I think of Jim often as we spent many hours together roaming the Allegheny National Forest and the Allegheny Plateau in search of the elusive snowshoe hare. We hunted hare in Maine and New York and spent many miles looking through the windshield of the dog truck reminiscing about the phone company and many other subjects which were too deep for us to understand. My favorite memories of all are the hours we spent driving the forest service roads, in the dead of winter, with temperatures way below zero in search of the ellusive snowshoe hare.

 

Old hare hunter Jim Hanson and I were sitting around a campfire one evening this summer in the Enchanted Mountains of Western New York. We had spent the day scouting for new cottontail cover in a new, to us, section of the country. The Enchanted Mountains of Cattaraugus  County are well known for the plentiful game that resides in its hillsides and fields. The Allegheny River winds its way along the southern border and Cattaraugus Creek forms the northern boundary. Cattaraugus County is the number one county in New York State for turkey hunting and in the top three for deer hunting. It was Jim’s idea to check out the rabbit cover, which is quite hard to do without dogs. Mostly we were just wasting away the summer.

CATTARAUGUS, from a Seneca Indian word meaning “bad smelling banks,” referring to the odor of natural gas leaking from rock seams. 

We were sitting around the campfire reminiscing and making plans, when I said to Old Jim, "Jim, did you know that a couple years back a trio of researchers discovered a brand new breed of cottontail rabbit?"

"What the heck are you babbling about? Do you mean there are actually people who study wild rabbits?" Jim demanded.

"Apparently there are a lot of them spending a lot of your money. A Penn State University researcher is going to spend $115,000 to count snowshoe hare in northern Pennsylvania." I explained. "And don’t ask me how they plan on doing it. This is only one of fifteen projects approved for funding by the Pennsylvania Game Commission and Fish & Boat Commission to study ‘troubled wildlife and fish species.’"

"Okay, I won’t go there, but what about this new rabbit?" Jim asked.

"There is an article in the August 2003 Pennsylvania Game News by a Marcia Bonta that states that in 1982 three scientists ‘split’ the New England cottontail into two species." I informed him.

"Did not know that". Said Jim. "What is a New England cottontail?"

"The New England cottontail is a separate and very rare species of cottontail rabbit. The Eastern cottontail is found almost everywhere unlike the New England cottontail whose range is only New England and northern New York State."

"Where does this new cottontail live?" Jim interrupted impatiently.

"The new species of cottontail are secretive, forest-dwelling rabbits. There are never too many found in any one place and they range only within the Appalachian Mountain chain from eastern New York, down through northeastern Alabama. They inhabit woods, shrubby areas, and brush. This new cottontail resides in dense evergreens and deciduous cover at high elevations. It is associated with conifer and heath habitat, and prefers thicker wooded cover than the eastern cottontail." I reported.

"What is a heath habitat?" Jim asked.

"I think ‘heath’ is a foreign word meaning an extensive tract of uncultivated open land covered with low shrubs and the like." I informed. "Probably like huckleberry, mountain laurel or even blueberry."

"What does this new cottontail eat?" Jim wanted to know.

"It eats a variety of grasses, ferns, forbs, and shrubs."

"It eats Fords?" Jim questioned.

"No, no, I said forbs. A forb is a broad-leaved herb growing in a field or meadow. It also appears to be the only cottontail that feeds extensively on conifer needles. In the winter they also eat twigs and bark."

"They bark," Jim acted surprised, "at the moon?"

"No, they eat the bark of saplings". I corrected. "Just like most rabbits and hare".

"If that is the case, Jim asked, is there a difference in the droppings?"

"Negative", I continued, "In fact there is no difference in the fecal pellets of cottontails or hares to the naked eye. Did you know that rabbits and hares expel two types of fecal pellets, greenish and brown? The greenish pellets contain partially digested vegetation and are commonly reingested. This process is known as ‘coprophagy’. In addition, before you ask, the greenish pellets have a high protein content and contain large amounts of B vitamins produced by intestinal bacteria. This way they make optimum use of the food available and they do not leave behind any nutrients. This process is important to their survival as they can spend more time in cover and less time out in the open feeding."

"What do they call this new rabbit?" Jim asked.

"They call this new species of cottontail the Appalachian cottontail or sometimes it is called the ‘Allegheny’ cottontail. It is obvious why it is called the Appalachian but Allegheny refers to the Allegheny Mountain in the Dolly Sods of West Virginia were the Appalachian cottontail was first named." I reported. "The Dolly Sods is an interesting story all its own. The Dolly Sods Wilderness is located on the Cheat-Potomac Ranger District of the Monongahela National Forest in Tucker and Randolph Counties near Elkins, West Virginia. It is part of the 106 million acre National Wilderness Preservation System. Altitudes range from 3,200 feet to more than 4,000 feet and are said to be a little bit of Canada placed too far south."

"Sounds like a great place for snowshoe hare", Jim observed.

"Yeah, they reportedly have snowshoe hare. Hey, maybe we should go to West Virginia hare hunting sometime?" I suggested. "The Dolly Sods sounds like a remarkable place."

"What does this Appalachian cottontail look like?" Jim wanted to know.

"The Appalachian cottontail supposedly resembles the eastern cottontail very closely. It differs only in its slightly smaller size, shorter ears, and greater amount of black on the back. A narrow black patch is present on top of the head between the ears. The rufous or rusty nap patch characteristic of the eastern cottontail is lacking. So say Linzey and Brecht of Wytheville Community College in Wytheville, Virginia. Some scientists admit that Appalachian cottontails are difficult to distinguish in the field from Eastern cottontails. It gets better, I read that the only way they, the scientists, can honestly tell any difference is by doing an autopsy and measuring the cranium."

"Very fascinating, are there any Appalachian cottontails in Pennsylvania?" Jim asked.

"According to Bonta, scientists first assumed that the Dolly Sods was the preferred habitat of the Appalachian cottontails. But she says that a Dr. Ralph Harnishfeger of Lock Haven University, in Pennsylvania, claims that Appalachian cottontails are found in the very young regenerating forest stands where the tornado went through in 1985 in northern Clinton County. They are also found in a blowdown where pines were planted between windrowed debris, with dense bramble cover and in a dense stand of scrub oak on a SGL (State Game Lands) clear-cut site in Centre County."

"There are cottontail rabbits in the blowdowns in Forest, Elk, and McKean Counties. Do you think they might be this Allegheny cottontail?" Jim asked enthusiastically.

"Do you remember a couple years back when the ANF (Allegheny National Forest) Forester sent us up to the Timberline Trail Head in Elk County to kill the snowshoe hare which were eating his apple trees and all we could find were cottontails?"

"Yeah, I remember, we even killed a couple. Those cottontails ran so big we honestly thought for sure the hounds were chasing snowshoe hare, and then Little Joe shot a cottontail." Jim reminisced. "You wrote in one of your articles that we were starting to find cottontails because of the declining dear herd."

"That’s right, I wrote ‘In Pennsylvania, especially northwest Pennsylvania, the deer herd has been out of control for years. Research has shown that the over-population of deer causes subtle but significant changes to the present and future forest habitat, to the harm of the deer herd and small game, which includes snowshoe hare. Large numbers of deer in relatively small areas lead to over-browsing of forest vegetation. Heavy damage to low-level vegetation also hurts other wildlife. Small game is less abundant. Escape cover, nesting areas, and food sources are severely restricted for such wildlife as the snowshoe hare, ruffed grouse, woodcock, cottontail, turkey and many non-game species. We have started to see more cottontail rabbits in remote forest locations. Maybe, just maybe, the deer herd controls are starting to show some sign of "rabbitat" improvements.’" I recalled.

"Maybe your prognostication is coming true and maybe it is possible that some of those rabbits are Appalachian." Declared Old Jim.

"Maybe…"

There you have it. Now you know.

A BEAGLER'S LIFE

The following article was featured in the August 2020 issue of

THE RABBIT HUNTER

magazine

and is

presented here for your reading pleasure.

From the Allegheny Plateau and the Wilds of Of Pennsylvania

 A BEAGLER’S LIFE

Written

by

Joe Ewing

Photography by

Brenda & Joe Ewing

 

 The “Three Amigos”. From L-R, Aero, Hollie and Shadow.

 

Beagling is my life. My life revolves around my beagles. Those who know will understand the beagling lifestyle, whether it’s hunting, trialing, companionship or all of the above. It’s an all-consuming passion virtually to the point of obsession, if not addiction. I’ve been blessed with this compulsion for more than fifty years.

I would like to quote the late John Yates, founder of the American Sporting Dog Alliance, “My life is filled with love and joy and beauty, and I owe most of it to my dogs.”

I have the utmost respect for sportsmen who work with dogs. Anyone who owns hounds has my complete esteem. I hold deep admiration for those houndsmen who own and hunt with hounds. I appreciate just how much dedication it takes to become a true houndsmen. Hunting with dogs is never easy and hounds are forever challenging, nevertheless hunting with hounds is eternally a labor of love and passion.

It doesn’t matter what season, at the conclusion a beagler cannot simply stash his beagle in the closet, lock the dog away in the beagle-safe or forget it forever on the couch in the corner. Beaglers don’t ignore the hound and they don’t cease thinking about it until the eve before the next season. When the season ends this is where true dedication begins. 

Many accomplished beaglers choose to replenish their packs by buying puppies, started beagles or fully trained dogs. I’ve exploited all of the above methods over the years. I’ve bought puppies, I’ve purchased started dogs and I’ve bought “finished” dogs. I’ve had puppies given to me and I’ve traded dogs. These methods all work to varying degrees. The most satisfying to me is seeing a puppy turn into a skillful hare and rabbit chaser.

A tenacious rabbit dog whelped in my kennel by my favorite hare hound which was also whelped in my kennel is the most rewarding of all. What could possibly be more rewarding than witnessing a puppy, who took its first breath in my kennel, transforming into a fantastic hare and rabbit hound? Every success along the path is a welcome and thrilling stage of development. Occasionally, accompanying these great rewards comes anguish and grief.

Just when I think I have everything down pat and I’m getting a little cocky, I get smacked up alongside the head and this lifestyle doesn’t feel so good. When misfortune strikes, it strikes with a vengeance. Misfortune is hard to swallow sometimes, but it’s swallowed, always with a lump deep in the throat. Many times, misfortune causes a feeling of nausea deep in the guts.

Many beaglers write about the good side of beagling, especially, about all of the great hounds they’ve owned. Every hunt is a glorious day with ribbons, trophies and tailgates lined with the day’s kill to prove it.

 

Just a small sample of Dan Brinsky’s trophy collection. Dan is the former owner of the late Run-Em-Over-Tank.

 

Misfortune is defined as a simple case of “bad luck”. Others define misfortune as, “referring to an event or circumstance that is hard to bear and beyond one’s control.” “Affliction”, another synonym, suggests misfortune that causes great suffering. Seldom is misfortune mentioned in the pages of beagling magazines.

 

We all recognize beagles as long-lived, with a life span of twelve to fifteen years and are mostly healthy. Beagles have few hip or back problems and are not prone to those disorders. Epilepsy, once a problem with beagles, appears to have been reduced in frequency due to responsible breeding. Beagles are vulnerable to eye disorders which include glaucoma, cataracts and “cherry eye”. Dogs that live and work outdoors require special considerations for the climate they inhabit. Working dogs are exposed to fleas, ticks, mites, cold and wind, and porcupines just to name a few of the thousands of hazards.

 

Several porcupine quills, picked up during a chase, required extraction from “Pysco Sid” on a recent outing to the field.

I once believed porcupines were the worst menace anyone could face. I’ve pulled thousands of quills and the porcupine is one of my most despised adversaries. I can’t stress enough how much I hate porcupines.

Several years ago, a litter of puppies was whelped in my kennel containing four females and two males. I was lucky to be given such a beautiful litter of potential hare hounds. The new litter was out of Branko’s High Plateau Duggan and Iron Mountain Tia. Their linage included Branko’s One-Tuff-Hombre, former world large pack champion, just to drop a name. I kept three females and the remaining puppies were presented to beagling friends as appreciative gifts.

Iron Mountain Tia and litter, 2012. 

I named my three puppies, Shadow, Hollie and my granddaughter named the third one, Aeropostale Aero, Aero for short. Everything went great for two years. The “Three Amigos” were coming along towards being respectable rabbit dawgs with Shadow showing signs of being the best of the three.

·                     May 18, 2020 THE NEW YORK TIMES By James Gorman A New Viral Outbreak Is Killing Rabbits This virus is deadly, long-lived and highly contagious, but it doesn’t affect people or other animals. It is not a corona virus. The illness is caused by Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus type 2 and does not affect humans or other animals, only rabbits, hares and perhaps pikas, a rabbit-like animal, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This is the first outbreak of the virus in wild rabbits in North America, but there have been other, smaller outbreaks among domestic rabbits in Ohio, Washington and New York, and in feral rabbits in Canada.   “We hear rumors of underground rabbit transport, and there are folks that do import rabbits from Europe,” Dr. Zimmerman said. “So, our concern is that somebody brought them in, they were carrying the virus during transport. If one of them died, they pitched it out and boom, we infect the wild rabbits and away we go.”

One morning, I found Shadow in distress with her face swollen like a giant balloon. I immediately started her on antibiotics which reduced the swelling considerably. There was no swelling inside Shadow’s mouth and I was pretty sure it was not anallergy. After a week of antibiotics Shadow was still lethargic and I could feel lumps in her neck. Off to the veterinarian we went. A thorough examination was performed with the Vet’s diagnosis being a word not found in my modest vocabulary, “lymphoma”.

The veterinarian stressed there was no cure. “No cure” didn’t immediately register in my inadequate brain. Not what I wanted to hear for sure. He informed me a biopsy could be performed and if the biopsy proved positive for cancer chemotherapy would be the treatment with no guarantee of remission. Sometimes surgery or radiation therapy may be recommended. He declared that he was 95% positive his diagnosis was correct and I took him at his word and Shadow was euthanized that day.

The day I walked into the vet’s office I’d never heard of “lymphoma” and I assuredly couldn’t spell the word. Since that day I’ve studied the subject and now, at least I can spell lymphoma.

Lymphoma is the most common type of cancer in dogs. There it is, the dreaded “C” word. Canine lymphomas, there are 30 types, are similar to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in humans. There is no cure in dogs but remission is possible.

The first symptom that dogs with multicentric lymphoma, the most common type, usually show is swollen lymph nodes. It’s common for dogs with lymphoma to have lymph nodes 3-to-10 times their normal size. These swellings are not painful and feel like a firm, rubbery lump that moves freely beneath the skin. Dogs with multicentric lymphoma may also develop lethargy, fever, lack of appetite, weakness, swelling of the face or legs. Increased thirst and urination and dehydration may develop.

Lymphoma is diagnosed by performing a “biopsy” which is a minor surgical procedure. A piece of lymph node or another organ affected is removed and viewed under a microscope.

The treatment therapy proven most effective for canine lymphoma is chemotherapy. Most dogs with lymphoma will have a relapse at some point. Lymphoma becomes more resistant to chemotherapy over time. Most lymphomas develop resistance to all chemotherapy drugs and dogs with this disease die or are euthanized when the cancer can no longer be controlled with chemotherapy.

Unfortunately, scientists don’t know what causes lymphoma in dogs but, they do register several theories which range from viruses, bacteria, chemical exposure and physical factors such as strong magnetic fields or other environmental factors. Another supposed cause is genetics. The bottom line, the cause of this cancer remains unclear and I mistakenly assumed science knew everything.

Let's stipulate, just for argument sake, we’re certain Roundup® is the culprit. I don’t use Roundup or any chemicals on my lawn, however, the TRUGREEN® man shows up at my neighbors four times a year like clockwork. My kennel is surrounded on two sides by farmland and we all know what the farmer sprays on his GMO soy beans, corn and other crops, Roundup®.

Here is the other kicker; just this past spring (2020) Hollie, Shadow’s sister, lost her litter. Hollie was to the veterinarian for a pre-whelping checkup with x-rays showing four puppies ready for delivery in a few weeks. When the day arrived one puppy was whelped but then nothing. Labor was at a standstill so off to the vet we raced. The vet couldn’t induce labor so cesarian (“C”) section was performed. While Hollie was in surgery her first born puppy was active and healthy.

Hollie’s three remaining puppies could not be saved. The vet reported one of the puppies was “blue” signifying lack of oxygen caused by not being whelped and the other two had puss in their amniotic sacs. Where the infection came from remains a mystery. In a weeks’ time Hollie’s only remaining puppy died from unknown causes and remains another unexplained mystery.

This spring (2020) misfortune struck one more time. Shadow and Hollie’s litter mate, Aero, was diagnosed with kidney failure due to Lyme Disease and was euthanized. Aero gave me and others some wonderful puppies from the one litter she whelped. She was also a brave and fearless hare hound. The pack and I will miss her very much.

On the brighter side; Aero left me with a very determined female hare hound named Muzette Mountain Music. I know Music will take over where her mother left off. I’m going to breed Music and make some great hare hounds. I know I can and I know I shall. I’m not giving up!

Hollie on the hunt.