Page:Care and Management of Rabbits.djvu/31

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POSSIBILITIES IN RABBITS

The acquaintance of the average individual with the rabbit family extends to the observation of the wild cotton tail or to a few domesticated "pets" for children.

It is hardly fair to judge the modern domesticated rabbit by these standards. He is an entirely different animal from the wild rabbit. He is built different, he grows different and he achieves a different purpose entirely. The wild cotton tail rarely attains a weight of more than five pounds, while a New Zealand Red doe will weigh ten pounds at the age of one year. Flemish Giants have been produced weighing as much as twenty-four pounds when matured.

The modern domesticated rabbit is a hutch bred rabbit. He is born and raised in close confinement. He would not know what to do in a park or under wild conditions. Hence,