THREE RIVERS AREA — Standing ankle deep in the blackwater bayou, I watch the swamp rabbit. I can hear, in the distance, two beagles hot on its track, but this bottomland creature seems unconcerned.

There are swimming rabbits in Indiana. Known as cane cutters, cane jakes, or more commonly swamp rabbits, this species is found in the low lying areas in Indiana’s southern hardwood forests where tall ...