“I wouldn't feel safe there,” replied Jumper rather timidly. “I depend on my long legs for safety, and the way I can dodge around trees and bushes. I suppose Reddy Fox may be fast enough to catch me in the open, but he can't do it where I can dodge around trees and bushes. That is why I stick to the Green Forest. If you please, Mother Nature, what is this about a cousin who likes to swim?”
Old Mother Nature's eyes twinkled. “We'll get to that later on,” said she. “Now, each of you hold up a hind foot and tell me what difference you see.”
Peter and Jumper each held up a hind foot and each looked first at his own and then at the other's. “They look to me very much alike, only Jumper's is a lot longer and bigger than mine,” said Peter. Jumper nodded as if he agreed.
“What's the matter with your eyes?” demanded Old Mother Nature. “Don't you see that Jumper's foot is a great deal broader than yours, Peter, and that his toes are spread apart, while yours are close together?”
Peter and Jumper looked sheepish, for it was just as Old Mother Nature had said. Jumper's foot really was quite different from that of Peter. Peter's was narrow and slim.
“That is a very important difference,” declared Old Mother Nature. “Can you guess why I gave you those big feet, Jumper?”
Jumper slowly shook his head. “Not unless it was to make me different,” said he.
“I'm surprised,” said Old Mother Nature. “Yes, indeed, I'm surprised. You ought to know by this time that I never give anybody anything without a purpose. What happens to those big feet of yours in the winter, Jumper?”
“Nothing that I know of, excepting that the hair grows out long between my toes,” Jumper replied.
“Exactly,” snapped Old Mother Nature. “And when the hair does this you can travel over light snow without sinking in. It is just as if you had snowshoes. That is why you are often called a Snowshoe Rabbit. I gave you those big feet and make the hair grow out every winter because I know that you depend on your legs to get away from your enemies. You can run over the deep snow where your enemies break through. Peter, though he is small and lighter than you are, cannot go where you can. But Peter doesn't need to depend always on his legs to save his life. There is one thing more that I want you both to notice, and that is that you both have quite a lot of short hairs on the soles of you feet. That is where you differ from that cousin of yours down in the Sunny South. He has only a very few hairs on his feet. That is so he can swim better.”