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Show horned owl, gggg‘vigginianus occidsntalis Stone; and other lass cannon birds are Imam to include jack rabbits among their prsy. During a study a: toad brought. to tho most to fbsd young birds during the spring of 1953, R. D. Ports: found that 38 of 78 food itsnl braught to a rsd~tail asst, ens of nine brought to a rough*1sg nest, and ha out of 5? brought to a hornsd 6'1 host, usrs jack rabbits. Sines tbs rabbits are much largo! than ths other food items-brought to the nests, the proportion of tbad quantitatirsly supplied hy ths rabbits scald bs much largsr than ths figures indicate. In light of'this relationship between raptors and Jack rabbits it is difficult to interpret an obssrvation of s bs~ havieral rosction bstulsn s rsd~tail and a jack rshbit observed hg'Wbodbuny. Out collecting spouimsns, ho was making prslmminary observations when he noted the rabbit turn his head as it looking into the sky. Gianning up, he noted a rod-tail caning toward tbs rabbit as if ta asks a strike. As it aphroaehod, the rabbit sitting on its haunchss with back toward the hawk suddsnly stiffened its frank logs and noek. The hawk rospondsd hy changing its flight pattsrn and sailing over tho rabbit without striking. Artur the hawk passsd, the rabbit usnt on fssding. Among rsptilss, tho gophsr tanks, Pitnaghis catsnifsr dcsgggiao;§ Stojnsgsr. and the Grant Basin rattlssnsks, Crotalgg 313141: lutosus Klaubcr, art the only ones likely to include jack rabbits in their diets. Large spa¢insns of both snakes are probably capahls of swallawing vsry young rabbits hat would be totally incapabls or mam adults. Thus snakes are not. ml: distributsd mm- the landscape but usually caear in the summit irregularly distributed ossikho range around cantsrs whats thqy ean rind natursl underground sheltcrs for winter. ENDOPARASITBS As a by-product of othsr studies, 19 spseimuns or junk rabbits wars ro~ terrod to Dr. A. W; Grundsann for a study or sndaparasitss during the summsrs of 1953 and 195k. Thsas spscinsns wire sssminsd hy standard msthods and the endo~ |
