'^^^NWi)li|i *i«K: / / // '■ 0 Jf/f/ /Sl^'m C/^T^ '>^^^^ L/ ^^-^^ Z-^^-?^ c^O (^/(^^'^'^^^^t' <^ ^ ly/^r^i^t^Tn^ "^f— 00 CM I o EC < • O z CO UJ < > Q < < 3" a: uJ _l < > a < < CO UJ I z > tr Q H CQ CQ < q: Bulletin No. 8 U, S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE UIVISION OF ORNITlini,OllV AND MAM.UALUGY THE JACK RABBITS OF THE UNITED STATES liY T. S. PALMER, M. D. WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1896 LEITER OF TRANSMriTAL. United States Department of Agriculture, Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy, Washington, I). C, October 19, 1895. Sir : 1 have the honor to transmit and to recommend for publication as Bulletin No. 8 of this division a report on The Jack llabbits of the United States, by Dr. T. S. Palmer, assistant chief of division. Dr. Palmer has prepared the whole bulletin and is responsible for all statements made, including opinions respecting the status of the vari- ous species. Eespectfully, C. Hart Merriam, Chief of Division. Hon. J. Sterling Morton, Secretary of Agriculture. PREFACE The damage done to crops by rabbits has been ilbistrated very forcibly during recent years by the losses sustained by farmers and orchardists m the arid regions of the West through the depreda- tions of the large native hares, or jack rabbits. The introduction of irrigation and the cultivation of large tracts of land have favored the increase of rabbits in several States by furnishing a new source of food supply. To such an extent have their depredations increased that the extermination of jack rabbits has become a serious question in California, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, and Utah. The objects of this bulletin are: (1) To give a general account of the distribution and habits of the various species found in the United States;, (2) to show the methods which have been used to exterminate the animals and to protect crops from their depredations; and (3) to bring together facts and figures concerning the economic uses of rab- bits in general, for the purpose of indicating how our native species may be more generally utilized. The disastrous results of the introduction of the common European rabbit into Australia some thirty years ago are known the world over, and nowhere have the methods of destroying rabbits and protecting crops been so carefully investigated as on that continent. While the Old World rabbit belongs to an entirely different species from the jack rab- bits of the West, and differs from them in habits, some of the Austra- lian methods might be used with advantage in our own country. The commercial utilization of rabbits has been attended with considerable success in Australia; large quantities of rabbits are used for food, and an immense number of skins are annually exi)orted to England, some of M^hich find their way to the markets of this country. Therefore, when possible, refcTence has been made to ex])eriments in Australia which are likely to be of benefit in the United States. It is obviously impracticable to mention the many persons who have contributed data, but acknowledguients are due to all who liaA'e aided in the ])reparation of this re])ort. The author, however, is under special obligations to Maj. Chas. liendire and to Messrs. M. S. Eeatherstoue of (ioshen, Cal., Henry Lahann of Traver, Cal., Geo. W. Stewart and D. K. Zumwalt of Visalia, Cal., A. Van Deuseu of Lamar, Colo., and 6 PREFACE. to Vernon Bailey and J. Ellis MoLellan, field agents of the division, for many valuable notes. More than five hundred letters were written in the course of the investigation, and thus a large amount of informa- tion has been collected which could not otherwise have been obtained. The statistics given in the last two chapters are only approximate, and necessarily incomplete, but any corrections or additions will be wel- comed, i)articularly in the case of the lists of rabbit drives, which it is desirable to make as complete as possible. T. S. Palmer. CONTENTS Page. CiiAPTKR I. — Introduction 11 Genernl habits 11 Food 12 Dciirediitioiis 13 Species foiiud in the United States 13 I'liiirie llare or White-tailed Jack Rabbit ( Lepus campesiris) 14 Calil'ornia .lack IJahbit {Le^tim califontictis) 17 IJlaek-taih'd or Texan .Jack Kabbit (Lepiis texianus) 10 Jilaclv-eaivd .lack Uabbit {Ltpns melaiiofis) 21 Allen's Jaclv Ral)hit {LejJiis alleni) 22 Chapter II. — Abundanck and Rapidity of Increase 24 Breedinif habits 25 Number of young in a Jitter 2."> Time of birth 27 Chapter III. — In.iury to Crops and Means of Protection 30 Injury to grain, orchards, etc 30 Protection of orchards and ci'ops 32 By fences 33 Protection of single trees 34 Smears 34 Chapter 1 \'. — Methods of Destruction 36 Inoculation 36 Methods used in Australia 37 Poison 38 Bounties 40 California 40 Idaho 41 Oregon 42 Texas 42 Utah 43 P^xpenditures in Australia 43 Natural enemies 44 Ejtidemics 45 Chapter V.— Rahbit Drives and Hunts 47 California ^ 47 Origin of the drives 52 Results of the drives 57 Oregon 59 Rabbit hunts 60 Utah 60 Idaho 62 Colorado 63 Summary 64 Chapter \T.— Value of the Jack Rabbit 65 Coursing 66 Skins 68 Jack rabbits as game 71 Parasites 71 How the game is killed and shipped 72 The market 74 General summary and conclnsious 78 Articles on Rabbits 80 7 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PLATES. 0])po8ite page — Frontispiece. Rabbit driviiio; in the San Joaquin Valley. California — The (Jrand Ariuy drive at Fresno, ]Manh 12, W)2. (From photograjih by Sti tiler.) I. Map showing distribution of jack rabbits in the United States 11 II. Distribution of the California and Texan .lack liabbits l!^ III. A Jack rabbit drive near Fresno, Cal., May 5, 1894— IJabbits eutering tlie corral I " IV. Iv'esnlt of the Grand Army ra1)bit drive at Fresno, Cal.— 20.000 rabbits . killed. (From photograph by Stiltier) •">! V. Maj) sliowing location of rabbit drives in southern California r).5 VI. Result of the jack rabbit hunt at Lamar, Colo., December 22, 1894 — 5,142 rabbits killed. { I-'roni photograY)h by Hallack) <>H TEXT FIGURES. 1. Diagram showing form of corral used in the rabbit drive at IJakersfield, Cal., January 15, 1888. (From Am. Field, 1888) 4!' 2. Diagram showing form of portable c(nTal used by the Goshen Rabbit Drive Club. (From M. S. Featheratone) 50 9 tf I )• * THE JACK K VIM^ITS OF THE UNITED STATES. By T. S. Palmer, M. 1). CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. The Great Plaius and deserts of the western United States are inhabited by several species of large hares, commonly known as 'jack rabbits.' These rabbits occur almost everywhere, except in the higher mountains and in wooded regions, from the ninety-fifth meridian west to the Pacific, and from the Plains of the Saskatchewan soutliward over the table-land of Mexico to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The resem blance of their large ears to those of the well-known pack animal of the West lias suggested the common names of 'jackass hares,' 'jack rab- bits," or 'jacks.' In some parts of California jack rabbits are called 'narrow-gauge mules' and 'smull mules,' but fortunately these absurd terms are very local, and not likely to come in general use. 1 n the South- west and beyond the Kio Grande the large hares are called 'liebres* by the Mexicans, to distinguish them from the cotton-tail rabbits, or 'couejos.' GENERAL HABITS. .Tack rabbits may be seen abroad at almost any hour of the day, and lience are likely to be recognized by the most casual observer, and are perhaps better known than most other native mammals. Living as they do on the open plain, where they are compelled to rely for safety on quickness of hearing and on speed, their ears and hind legs are devel- oped to an extraordinary degree. This gives them a somewhat grotesque appearance, but in reality few animals are more graceful as they bound along when once thoroughlj- alarmed. In spite of an unfortunate name and seeming awkwardness of gait, a closer acquaintance with their 'This name seems to have been first introduced by Audubon and Haohman in 1851. In referring to one of the species found along the Mexican border they say: "This species is called the jackass rabbit in Texas, owing to the length of its ears." (Quad. N. Am., II, 1851, p. 99); and again, in reference to Lepttn texianux. "This hare received from the Texans and iVoinoiir troops in the Mexican war the name of jackass rabbit, in common with Lepita callotis.'' ^Ibiil., Ill, p. 157.) 11 12 JACK RABBITS OF THE UNITED STATES. habits will reveal many points of interest and will aronse admiration for the way in which they seem to overcome every adverse condition of life, so admirably are they adapted to their surronndings. Unlike the cotton-tails, or the common rabbit of Europe, these hares do not live in burrows, but make 'forms' under bushes or in patches of weeds, where they find protection from the weather, and also bring forth their young. Certain shrubs in the West belonging to the genus BUjelovia are commonly known as 'rabbit brush,' because they grow in dense thickets, in which rabbits are fond of hiding. Where there are no bushes, the labbits seek the shade of any objects which can shield them from the burning rays of the sun. A traveler on the Southern Pacific llailroad, crossing the barren idains of the San Joaquin Valley in California, where large stretches of country are devoid of bushes, may sometimes see the jack rabbits crouching in the shadows of the telegraph poles, evidently alarmed by the train, but' uncertain whether or not to forsake their shady spots and seek safety in flight. Extremes of climate ai>parently do not afi'ect them to any great extent. Some species are at home on the deserts of Arizona and Cali- fornia; others, as the Prairie Hare, contrive to exist in the intense cold of a Montana winter, when the ground is covered with snow, and they are compelled to live on the bark of shrubs or of willows growing along the streams. Food. — Like other rabbits, they feed almost ( xclusively on the bark and leaves of shrubs and on herbage, and hardly any land is too poor to supply this food in some form. Ou the Great Plains, buffalo and granm grass and such herbs as they can find constitute their i)rincipal fare, but this is supplemented in winter by the bark of willows. In the deserts of the Great Basin they seem to be especially fond of the tender annual species of grease- wood {Alriplex) and several species of cactus. If nothing better is obtainable, however, they can subsist on Sarcobatus, and shrubs which other animals seldom touch. Sometimes it is difficult to see where they can obtain sufficient food, but lack of water and of green herbage serve only to reduce their numbers and rarely cause their complete absence from any region. Among the greasewood on the alkali fiats northwest of Great Salt Lake, or on the cactus covered deserts of Arizona, the jack rabbits are almost as fat and sleek as when feeding in the alfidfa patches and vineyards of soutliern Califorina. If necessary they can travel long distances for food, but as they seldom drink, s(;arcity of water causes them little incjonvenience, and the juicy cac- tus 'pads' or ordinary deseit herbage furnish all the moisture neces- sary to slake their thirst. They are fond of vegetables and alfalfa, and when these can'be had they quickly abandon their usual food and establish themselves near the garden or cultivated field. Tlieir Condnessior tender bark makes them particularly destructive in the orchard and vineyard, SPECIES. 13 where they are likely to do irreparable injury by girdling- young- fruit trees and vines. As jack rabbits multiply rapidly they often become great pests. They have comparatively few natural enemies, and if not held in check by other agencies would doubtless overrun the country. Their undue increase is prevented ordinarily by lack of food, by unfavorable climatic conditions, or by disease. Many die during unusually severe winters; a cold, wet spring- is disastrous to the young, and thousands of young and old ]ierish during the epidemics Avhich occasionally break out among them over large sections of country. Nevertheless, tliey can aringy jerk, more like* the rebounding oC an clastic ball than the result of muscular exertion. It does not come fairly down, and gather itself for the next spring, luit seems to hold its legs stillly extended, to touch only its toes, ami rebound by the force of its impact. Tiie action is strikingly suggestive of the 'bucking' of a mule, an alTair with which people in the West are only too familiar. With a succession of these high jerky leaps the animal makes off generally in a straight ' Naturalist in British Columbia, II, 186(5, pp. 95-96. 2 Bull. Essex Institute, VII (1875), 1876, pp. 83-85. CALIFORNIA JACK RABBIT. 17 course; there ia notliiug of the (loflijiiig or scuttling iibout that marks the running of the smaller rabbits. As it gains on its pursuers, and its fears h-ubside, the springs grow weaker, just as a flat stone 'skipped' on the water diminishes in length of the rebounds, and finally the animal squats in its tracks on its haunches with a jerk, to look and listen. »■ * * t]io attitude at such times is highly character- istic. One foie foot is advanced a little before the other, and the ears are held pointing in opposite directioift. A hare in such an attitude as this is always upou the watch, and the slightest stimulation of its fears at such a time is enough to start it on its bounding course. It is a beautiful exhibition of timid watchfulness. I have never seen this hare stand erect with its forepaws off the ground, as some of its smaller relatives are wont to do, and I doubt that it ever assumes this attitude except perhaps momentarily. California Jack Rabbit. (Lcjms valifornicus Gray.) The California Hare is; one of the most easily 'recognized of the black- tailed rabbits which inhabit the United States. It is gray above, often tinged with brownish and mixed witli black; the lower surface of the body and tail is bnfif. From the tip of the nose to the end of the tail vertebrjii it measures about 23] inches (.'502 mm.). The oars vary from 5 to 6 inches (130-150 mm.), wliile the tail is ouh^ about 4 inches (102 mm.) in leugtli.^ The only other species which is likely to be confused with it is the Texan Jack Rabbit {Lepus texiamis). which is also found west of the Sierra Nevada, in tlie San Joaquin Valley. But while indi- viduals of both species show considerable variation in color according to season, the California Hare is browner and darker above, and the lower surface of the body and tail is buff or tan color, instead of white, as in the Texan species. Both are about the same size, but the tail in the California Jack Rabbit averages about an inch (25 mm.) longer. Nowliere in the United States, and perhaps nowhere in the world, except in Australia, are rabbits so abundant as in some parts of Cali- fornia, but the published data respecting the distribution of the several species is a good illustration of how much still remains to be learned about even the commonest aninmls. The California Jack Rabbit was described in 1837, tlie same year in wliich the Trairie Hare was named, and the Texan s])ecies was first made known in 1848. Although all three of these rabbits have been frequently collected for nearly half a century, and all have been known to occur in California, it is only recently that the limits of their ranges have been accurately determined. Hitherto it has been the custom to refer all the large black-tailed rabbits found west of the Sierra Nevada to the California species [Lepun mlifornicus); but the Death Valley expedition sent out by the Department of Agricnltnre established the fact that the one best known, on account of its extraordinary abundance, in the lower San Joaquin Valley is not the California Jack Rabbit, but the widely dis- tributed Texan species which occurs in the bottom of the valley from the Tejon Mountains north almost to latitude 38°. ' Average of 10 specimens from northern California. 8615— Xo. S 2 18 JACK RABBITS OF THE UNITED STATES. The true California animal was formerly supposed to extend east- ward to the Colorado River and Arizona, but more recent investigations sliow tliat it is restricted entirely to the region west of the Sierra. Here, where the chaparral-covered slopes of the foothills dip down to the valleys, it is most at home, mainly below an altitude of 3,000 feet. Rarely does it range above 5.000 feet, although in one instance at least, on Mount Pihos, it has been found higher than 8,000 feet. But the individuals found at these higher levels are few in number, and are probably only stragglers which have wandered up from the lower foothills. It avoids the dark, damp forests of the redwood belt on the Northwest coast; but finding suitable localities beyond the limits of its native State, it has crossed the Siskiyou Mountains and taken possession of the Rogue River and Umpqua valleys in Oregon, and is known to range" as far north as Comstock, in Douglas County. Mr. Clark P. Streator reports that a single specumen, probably a strag- gler, was killed near Eugene, at the head of the Willamette Valley, about November 20, 1893. To the south this species extends some distance down the peninsula of Lower California. While the limits of certain portions of this range are readily under- stood from well-marked conditions of climate and topography, it is by no means easy to explain the invisible but apparently sharjjly defined lines which separate the California and Texan rabbits in the great interior valley of California. Here they probably mingle with one another, but at no point are their habitats known to overlap to any great extent. Nor is it clear why the Texan Jack Rabbit, which extends up the east slope of the Sierra as high as 7,000 feet and over Walker pass (altitude 5,.')00 feet), should occupy only the bottom of the San Joaquin Valley below 2,000 feet. This part of its range is inclosed on both sides by that of Lex)us califoniicm, which is here restricted to the foothills, but which spreads out to the north and covers the whole exj)anse of the Sacramento Valley, as well as the slopes of the Sierra Nevada and Coast Ranges. Briefiy stated, the white-bellied species is found in the bottom of the San Joaquin Valley, while the buflf-bellied animal occupies the Sacramento Valley and the adjacent foothills, as well as those surrounding the San Joaquin Plains. The California Jack Rabbit is nowhere as abundant as the Texan species. In some portions of the Coast Range only two or three indi- viduals will be found over a large extent of country, and it is quite rare in some of the valleys southeast of San Franciso Bay; but this is due mainly to the settlement of the country, and the various means adopted for its extermination. It is perhaps most abundant in the Rogue River Valley, Oregon, along the western sloi)e of the central part of the Sierra Nevada, and in the San Gabriel and San Bernardino valleys. In speaking of the California species T. S. Van Dyke' says: "Few animals are more graceful than this hare, whether skimming the ^Southern California, 1886, p. 131. Bull. 8, Div, Ornithology and Mannrmalogy, U. S. Dept. Agriculture. Plate II. 37'- SanPi rofixctsco 35' B3' s i ^^L^.LosTi<^n<^}^ ^ --S^i%V.ar*->- Better d^>i^ Morro^*-'".-:. _• . ,, "Aro]tix.ve •GcM-«t>f'g' K J , TIS^ ill" ■ JJ5'' u Distribution of California and Texan Jack Rabbits. Dotted area = California Jack Rabbit; spots outside this area show where the Texan Rabbit has been collected. TEXAN JACK RABBIT. 19 plain before the outstret(;]ie(l greyhound or aroused from his 'form' he dashes away Avith high juini)s, as if to take a better view of the intruder, or stoi)ping and rearing ujion his hind legs, stands erect, with, ears pointed at the zenith and surveys liiin at safe distance, then again lengthens out his trim form and hugs tlie ground like a racer until a mile away. Sometimes at early morning or evening you may see him scudding along tlie plain as if in i)lay, running 2 or 3 miles, perhaps, most of the time at high speed. * * * ^^ fine runner he is, too, and gifter),000. When it is considered how much iujury a single rabbit can do, the damage which such an army of rabbits is capable of infiicting would hardly be less than that caused by a grasshoppei- i)lague. Suri^rise is sometimes expressed that jack rabbits are not entirely exterminated in regions where they have been mercilessly slaughtered for years, and it might be supposed that ;ininuils which live on the open i^lains Avithout even the protection afforded by burrows or holes of any kind, could easily be kept within bounds, though the}' have comparatively few natural enemies. But experience has shown that this is no easy matter. Ada County, Idaho, which has been systemat- ically killing off the jacks for fifteen years under the bounty system, received more scalps and expended more money for this purpose during 1895 than in any year since the bounty law first went into effect iu 1878. 24 BREEDING HABITS. 25 lu view of these facts it may be worth while, before cousidering the subject of depredations or the methods used in extermiuation, to dwell somewhat on the way in which these rabbits contrive to hold their own under iip])arently great disadvantages and when exposed to attacks of every kind. ISTaturally their breeding liabits and the rate at which the animals increase should be considered in this connection. IJKKEDING HAHrrS. The breeding halnts of the Old World hare and I'abbit are well known and have been determined repeatedly by observations on ani- mals kept in conlinement, so that the i)eriod of gestation, the number of young in a litter, the number of litters born iu a year, and the age at which each sjjecies begins to breed are known with considerable accuracy. According to Sir llichard Owen, the period of gestation in the Old World hare {Lepus timidus) and the rabbit {Lepus cuniculus) varies from thirty to thirty-one days, and it is probably much the same in the case of our native si^ecies. The common European rabbit breeds from four to eight times a year and the number of young varies from 3 to 8 in each litter; it begins to breed when only G months old and attains an age of 7 or 8 years. ' The breeding habits of the various jack rabbits are so much alike that the account of those of any one species will serve as an illustration of the others. The following description is taken from Dr. Cones' paper on the Prairie Hare in Montana, to which reference has already been made : Iu tho regions where I have studied this hare, the female hrings forth iu June and early .July — oftener tho latter — aud appareutly only one litter is produced each sea.son. The number of young is 5 or 6, as a rule. The form is simply constructed, without burrowing, iu the grass beneath some low, thick bush or tuft of weeds. The young are said to suckle aud follow the mother for a month or more. They are agile little creatures, even when only a week or two old, aud it is only when very young that they can be caught by hand. In traveling along the Milk River (where the species was abundant), early in July, 1 had several little ones brought to me, aud some I kept for a time in a box. * « * Though only 5 or 6 inches long, they had all the motions and attitudes characteristic of the jiareuts, and made shift to run about quite cleverl}'. They could not eat, but some of them could be coaxed to lick a little milk. (Bull, iissex Inst., YII, 1^75, p. 81.) Much still remains to be learned iu regard to the iiumber of young per annum, the exact tiaie when they are born and particularly the num- ber of litters per year. The interest in this subject is not restricted to the naturalist, for it is a matter of practical importance to the orchardist or the farmer to know when his eflbrts at extermination will be most eflective. Kinnber of young in a Jitter. — Compared with the domesticated ral)bit the jack rabbit does not increase very rapidly. Writers, however, differ widely concerning the number of young and the frequency with which the ditferent species breed. Most of the statements seem to be 1 Flower & Lydekker, Mammals Living aud Extinct, 1891, p. 494. 26 JACK RABBITS OF THE UNITED STATES. '■ largely matters of opinion. Mr. H. P. Attwater states that the jack rabbit on the southeast€frn coast of Texas is supposed to have only one young at a birth. Dr. J. H. Clark, surgeon of tlie Mexican Boundary Survey, notes that the species found along the Mexican border brings forth but 2 or 3 young at a time, and these usually late in the summer. The writer, in the 'Kern County Echo,' referred to above, says: "If these rabbits breed every six weeks, as is asserted by many, or at the outside, three times a year, * * * every farmer in this end of the valley without a rabbit-tight fence will be comijelled to surrender his ranch to the pests." As very little positive data seems to have been given by most observers, recourse was had to the specimens in the collections of Dr. C. Hart Merriam, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the American Museum of Natural History,^ to supplement the few published notes. Altogether about 50 specimens were available for this purpose, consisting lirst of 15 adult females with young, which had been examined in the field and a note made of the number of embryos which each contained. These furnish the most accurate data possible concerning the number of young. Tlie other specimens, 36 in number, comprise rabbits less than half grown, and in some cases only a few days old, which may be utilized to show roughly the dates of birth. The data thus collected are shown in the following tables: Table showing number of Jack Babbits in a Utter {based on dissection of females with young). Speciea. Num- ber of em- biyos. Date. Locality. Lepus californicus Lepus carnpestris Do 4 4 4 1 1 6 6 4 4 3 o 6 3 3 2 Mar. 19, 1894 May 5, 1890 May 30, 1894 Jolon, Cal. Bridger Pass, Wyoming. T^'ftrks of niievp.Tine. South Dnlrntn,. Lepus melanotis (?)*... Lepus texianus Do Dec. 28, 1894 ■ San Antonio, Tex. ' Jan. 24, 1891 1 Death V alley, Cal. Mar. 25, 1891 1 Do. Do - Apr. 16, 1891 Panamint Mountains, Cal. May 1, 1891 Salt Wells Valley, Cal. May 8,1893! Ilaynioud, Cal. May 9, 1893 j Do. May 25, 1892 Fori Huachuca, Ariz. June ? 1 Fort Whipple, Ariz. (Cones). July 9, 1890 ! Bhickfoot, Idaho. Do Do ( ?) Do ( ?) Do Do Do Do July 31, 1891 25 miles west of Benton, Cal. Sept. 5, 1889 i Sa.n Kra,iiei.<^ef» TVlnnntain. Ai'izona,. Do * Specimen in American Museum of Natural History, New York. The number of young as shown by these 15 specimens varies from 1 to C — never more; in fact it is probable that G is rather exceptional, although found in three of the cases mentioned above. The average obtained from the table is between 3 and 4 (3.5), but this result is prob- ably not accurate. It will be noticed that all the cases of 3 young or ' Through the kindness of Dr. .J. A. Allen, curator of mammals in the American Museum of Natural History, New York, 1 have had au opportunity of examining the jack rabbits in that collection. TIME OF BIRTH. 27 less are in the desert region of the Great Basin or Arizona, or else represent second or third litters. Dr. E. A. Mearns, United States Army, who has examined many specimens in Arizona, states that it is very common to find only 1 yonng- and that 2 is the usual number in that region. Farther north, however, both in the case of the Prairie Hare and the California Jack, 4 is probably not too high an average for the first litter, but it is doubtless true that later iu the season the litters are smaller. Time of hirtlt. — The evidence at hand not only fails to substantiate the view that Jack rabbits breed every six weeks in the year, but there is every reason to believe that each species has a regular breeding season and a definite period of rest. Certainly no data have been found which show that the young are born in the United States in October, Novem- ber, or December. It is almost impossible to determine the exact dates of birth unless the animals are kept in captivity, but the time can be estimated approximately. As already stated, the period of gestation is about thirty days, so that the specimens mentioned in the last table can be utilized for this purpose by adding thirty days to the dates given and the results will be within a month, and probably within two or three weeks of the trv^e time. Furthermore, it may be assumed that jack rabbits attain their full size (but not weight) in about two months, and the size of the adults and of the young at birth being known, the measurements of a young animal may be taken as a rough index of its age. The following table is based on an examination of Mi young rabbits selected for this purpose. Xo specimens were included which seemed to be much more than half growu, and nearly all those given may be assumed to be less than thirty days old and. hence the date of birth less than a month earlier in each case. The collection contains several specimens which illustrate the size and condition of the young at birth. Perhaps the most interesting are 4 fcetal Prairie Hares collected at Bridger Pass, Wyoming, May 5, 1890, evidently but a day or two before birth. The average measure- ments of these specimens are: Total length, 140'"'"; hind foot, 3G""". The animals are entirely covered with hair and the eyes are open. In one, at least, the front teeth (incisors) are cut, and nearly all the molars iu the upper jaw are just breaking through the gums. The specimens having been i)reserved iu alcohol for four years are somewhat shrunken and the total length is lu'obably about 'Jo'"'" too short, A specimen of the Black-tailed Pabbit {Lcpun te.rianus) from Panamint Valley, Cali- fornia, collected January 10, 1891 — evidently only a few days old — meas- ures only 19l>""" in length, and hind foot 47""". Another of about the same age from Santa Rosalia, Chihuahua, taken September 21, 1893, measures 185'"'", hind foot, 43" "". Thus, the young at birth average a little less than 200""" iu length; the hind foot about 40 or 45"'"^. The dates of birth can be ap])roximated from the following table with suf- ficient accuracy for present purposes by comparing the difference 28 JACK RABBITS OF THE UNITED STATES. between these measurements and those of any particular specimen with the difference obtained by subtracting- the oaeasurements of the young from those of the adult of that species. • List of young Jack Babhits, shoiving time of hirth. Spscies. Lepiis alleni Lepus calif orniens . Do Do Do Do Lepus campestris . . Do Do* Do'^ Do* Lepiis melanotisi . Do* Dot Dot Do Do Do Dot Dot Dot Lepvs texianus . . . Do Do Date. June 12, 1892 Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Lepus sp (?) Dot Do Do Mar. 18, Mar. 23, Apr. 15, Apr. 18, May 1, May 23, May 24, May 28, ....do. Sept. 10, Mar. 4, Mar. 9, Apr. 12, July 6, Apr. 26, July 3ll, Sept. 3, Sept. 17, Sept. 17, Oct. 11, Jan. 10. Mar. 27, Apr. 10, Apr. 27, Mav 9, May 18, May 22, June 11, July 17, July 26, Sept. 21, Jan. 23, Sept. 30, Aug..l4, do . 1892 1894 1894 1894 1894 1894 1894 1888 1887 1891 1894 1892 1890 1891 1891 1891 1892 1891 1889 1889 1891 1894 1890 1893 1892 1W3 1892 Locality. Total |Hind lenjjth. foot. Rillito Creek, Arizona . . San Fernando, Cal Jackson, Cal Oakdale, Cal Chinese Camp, Cal Priest Valley, Cal Newcastle, Wyo do Fort Pierre, S. Dak do FortBulord, N. Dak.... San Antonio, Tex Onaga, Kans Sau Antonio, Te.x ....do Vernon, Tex Cairo, Kans Onaga, Kans San Antonio, Tex do do Panamint Valley, Cal . . . Grapevine Mountains, Nev Furnace Creek, t'al Fort Huacbnca, Ariz Beaverdam, Ariz Phfenix, Ariz Carson, Nev Lone Pine. Cal South Fork, Pitt River, Cal Arco, Idaho Santa Rosalia, Chihuahua Mat.Tgorda, Tex Rockport, Tex San Luis Potosi, Mexico . do Mm. 455 375 405 390 420 410 344 350 460 445 265 266 206 405 192 379 200 380 300 410 295 281 240 185 260 Mm. 110 105 104 87 108 116 95 99 105 103 195 198 Remarks. 47 98 51 100 88 102 109 84 77 65 43 80 48 48 73 46 109 Adult: Length 643""" ; hind foot, 138. Adult: Length 592"""; ^ bind foot, 136. Adult:: Length SgS"""; [ bind foot, 150"™. One-third grown (?). I Adult: Length 590™; hind foot, 130. Unborn (?). Do. Few days old. Adult: Length 647'°"'; bind foot, 145. One-third grown (?). *In Merriam collection. tin American Museum of Natural History, New York. i Average of 6 specimens from Wyoming. It would have been desirable to have a much larger number of speci- mens, but the localities and seasons are well distributed and com- pensate in a measure for the small series. The earliest date of birth indicated in these tables is about the beginning of January in the case of three specimens — one taken in Panamint Valley, in the desert region of southern California, the others in southern Texas, at San Antonio and Matagorda. The latest dates (September), are represented by speci- mens from San Francisco Mountain, Ariz.; Santa Rosalia, Chihuahua, and Roctport and San Antonio, Tex. Between these extremes every month is represented, but most of the young seem to be born in April, May, and June. Specimens born after the 1st of July are from the northern part of the I'lains, from the Great Basin, from southern Texas, from elevated regions, or from the table-land of Mexico. There is a noticeable absence of d.ata from the low deserts of southern Arizona and southern California, ai)parently indicating at least a partial period of rest during the hot, dry summer. The tables also fail to show that BREEDING- SEASON. 29 any jack rabbits are born before the 1st of February in California west of the Sierra, or before the 1st of April north of Kansas and central Nevada. The length of the breeding- season in sowtliern regions indi- cates that several litters are born each year, but in the northern United States the number is probably not more than two, or at the most, three. The practical bearing of these generalizations is obvious. Drives or hunts organized for the extermination of rabbits should take place before the beginning of the breeding season, if they are to accomplish the desired end. Just after the young are born the rabbit population in a given place may be two or three times what it was six weelis pre- vious, and the killing of 1,000 rabbits then would be only one-half or one third as effective as the destruction of an equal number earlier in the season, when all the animals were adults. Drives in southern Cal- ifornia should therefore be made in December, January, February, or early in March — the earlier the better, if the weather .is favorable; later in the season more rabbits may be killed at one time, but a cer- tain proportion will be young. In Colorado and Utah, hunts made before the 1st of February will accomplish much more than those in April, while in Idaho they may be postponed somewhat later. Similarly, when killed for game, the rabbits from southern California or Arizona are not likely to be in the best condition after the 1st of February or March, while those from the northern Plains may be shipped up to the 1st of April. On the other hand, the young will hardly be in condition for market before October except in southern regions, and there the hot weather is likely to interfere with their ship- ment. CHAPTEK III, INJURY TO CROPS AND MEANS OF PROTECTION. INJURY TO txRAlN, ORCHARDS, ETC. With the settlement of the West the jack rabbit has found that several cultivated crops furnish food which is better and more easily obtained than the wild i)laiits ou which it formerly fed, a fact that is too often demonstrated by the ravages committed in orchards and vineyards. Like the cottontail, it seldom ignores a neighboring alfalfa field or vegetable garden, and if unmolested can do a surprising amount of damage. Melons, cabbage, carrots, alfalfa, cotton, sweet- potato vines, young grain, grapevines, and trees suffer most frequently from its visits. The damage is most severe, however, in the young orchard set in newly broken ground, for here, deprived of its ordinary food by the cultivation of the land, the rabbit is forced to seek a new sui:)ply, and finds it in the tender bark of the young trees. A single animal can girdle a large number of trees in a sliort time, and will often injure them so seriously that part of the orchard has to be replanted. It destroys both the foliage and bark of young vines, but is especially partial to alfalfa and to cabbages. Fortunately, it does not burrow to any great extent, and therefore does not injure the roots of trees or I)lauts, like the i)Ocket gopher. It has been estimated tliat five jack rabbits consume as much food as one sheep; thus some idea can be formed of the damage which a few rabbits may do in the course of a single night. Oomi)laints of their ravages have been received froni numerous correspondents from Texas to Washington, and from Kansas to California. Probably all the spe- cies are injurious, although no positive evidence against Allen's Rabbit is now at hand, simply be(;ause so little land in the area which it inhabits happens to be under cultivation. Most of the injury is done by the California Jack Kabbit and the wide-ranging Texan Hare {Lepus text an us). Mr. H. P. Attwater states that jack rabbits are common in Aransas County, Tex., along the Gulf coast, and do so much damage that many of the smaller truck farms are protected by rabbit-proof fences. In the northern i)art of the same State Mr. W. J. Crowley, of Grapevine, Tar- rant County, reports that tliey cause considerable injury to grain, and in fiehls of wheat, oats, and cotton often cut paths 12 inches wide and 300 or 400 yards in lengtli, and destroy jiatches as large as an ordinary sized room. Mr. A, Vogt wrote from Willow Point, in the neighboring county of Wise, under date of December 6, 1889: "The damage don^ 30 INJURY TO CROPS. 31 to my old orchard of a thousand peach trees by rabbits [Lepus sylvati- cus and L. mclanoti.s] is ."iO per ('cnt. Throe Inmdred trees are barked all around and below the bud, so that if they come out again they will be seedlings. Whitewashing tlie trunks docs no good, as the rabbits take the whitewasli and bark together." When irrigation was first begun near Lamar, in southeastern Colorado, the rabbits were attracted from the surrounding country, and caused nuich damage in the alfalfa and young orchards. TTunts were arranged on a large scale to kill off the pests, and proved so successful that regular 'rabbit days' have been celebrated for the last two or three years at Las Animas and at Lamar. In Idaho much difticulty has been experienced with jack rabbits at the experiment station at Nampa, Canyon Count3\ They are partic- ularly destructive to oats, wheat, barley, clover, vegetables, and fruit trees. Mr. T. T. Eutledge, assistant director, states that entire crops of grain and alfalfa are sometimes destroyed if small in acreage and unprotected. Mr. J. B. (lure, of Rudy, Fremont County, writes under date of Sep- tember 10, 1805: "Jack rabbits have done a great deal of damage in this part of the country to grain and luceru, and are increasing very fast. * * * Some of the farmers have lost from 8 to 10 acres of grain by rabbits this season." Complaints have also been received from the State of Washington from Sunnyside, Yakima County; from Davenport, Lincoln County, and from Prescott, Wallawalla County. i\Ir, Conrod, of Davenport, wrote on December 10, 1887, that the jack rabbits were causing serious injury to grain, apple and plum trees, raspberry vines, carrots, and cabbage. Mr. Oscar N. Wheeler, of Prescott, writing under date of August 12, 1805, says: "Jack rabbits (white tailed) have done a vast amount of damage to orchards, vineyards, and grain fields, but are not nearly* so numerous now as thev were three or four vears aijo, when thev destroyed bearing orchards. Timber claims, i)lanted in black locust that were large and old enough to 'prove up' on, were destroyed by them. Peo- ple who had hay stacked had to fence it to keep them off. 1 have known large stacks of hay destroyed by them.'' In Utah, Mr. W. G. Nowers wrote in February, 1887, concerning the Black-tailed Jack Babbit {Lepvs texianus) in Beaver County: "At times its ravages are enormous: sweeping down from the bench lands and sage plains in myriads, it devours entire fields of cereals. Last year in this and adjoining counties on either side its depredations amounted to several thousand dollars. Last year some farmers in this county lost their entire crop of small grain from this source alone. At Mim^rsville not more than one third of the crop was harvested; at Adamsville nearly the total crop Avas taken; at Green ville one-half of the crop was destroyed; and here (Beaver) about the same. This is also a fair representation of the ravages in Iron County south of us." 32 JACK RABBITS OF THE UNITED STATES. Ill California jack rabbits are most abundant on some of tbe ricTiest lands in the State, and tbey have been particularly injurious to the vineyards and crops in the southern coast counties and in the San Joaquin Valley. The following account of their ravages in west- ern Fresno County, by Mr. Alvah A. Eaton, gives some idea of the extraordinary numbers in the central part of the San Joa(5uin Valley, and shows how a scanty food supply drives the rabbits to the culti- vated fields. Mr. Eaton says: I arrived in Fresno, Cal., April 1, 1890, after what was known as a wet year, i. e., rain enough had fallen to sprout wheat and raise a fair crop without irrigation. These conditions were favorable for various 'tar' and 'alkali' Avceds (species of Madia) which grew so luxuriantly that year that they prevented the heading of wheat in several sections of the Riverdale country. The next year was dry, and there was no wild feed that the rabbits could get, so they flocked to the wheat fields, feeding on the wheat and hiding and breeding in the weeds. Many were destroyed by burning the weeds, and by gunners, but it did not seem to make much difference. To make matters worse, there had been a bounty of $5 a scalp placed on coyotes, and these were mercilessly hunted, and the rabbits and squirrels throve in consequence. During the summer of 1891 it was no uncommon thing to start 1,000 rabbits out of a patch of weeds, and in one patch about a quarter of a mile long there were at least 5,000. The winter of 1891-92 was also 'dry,' no feed springing up till late in February. The rabbits were driven by hunger to the alfalfa fields. They gnawed the tops of the stools to the roots, and even dug them out with their feet and ate them. One 10-acre field of my brother's was more thickly covered with their drop- pings than I ever saw a pasture covered with those of sheep. Such was the state of affairs in the spring of 1892 just previous to the four great Fresno County ' drives,' which occurred in February and March, resulting in the destruction of more than 43,000 rabbits. The damage which jack rabbits have done has been enormous, but it is very difficult to obtain reliable statistics. The ' Visalia Delta ' of February IG, 1888, estimated that the annual loss in Tulare County amounted to more than $000,000. During the last six or seven years, however, owing to the increased acreage under cultivation and the vigor with which 'drives' have been conducted, the rabbits have been kei)t pretty well in check. The loss on account of the depredations of rabbits in Victoria, Australia, for the ten years, 1878-1888, has been estimated at about $15,000,000 (£3,000,000).' PROTECTION OF ORCHARDS AND CROPS. The cost of properly protecting trees and vines is often a large item in the expense of setting a new orchard or vineyard. Several methods are commonly employed, but the one which is most effective, and the only one which can be used for crops of all kinds, is the rabbit proof fence. Kabbits which succeed in getting into the inclosure may be shot or i)oisoned. 'Jourii. Soc. Arts, London, XXXVII, No. 1879, Nov. 23, 1888, p. 22. PROTECTION OF CROPS. 33 fencp:s. Tf the orchard or field is to be protected as a whole, it should be inclosed by a low fence so built as to leave no holes large enough to admit a rabbit. While the animals could easily leap over a low fence they are not likely to under ordinary circumstances.' In southern California exporien(^e has shown that a fence about 2 feet high affords anii)le protection under ordinary circumstances, and many vineyards and orchards are surrounded by lath fences 2 to 2i feet in height. In the rabbit- infested region near Bakersfield, Cal., the fences are built some- what higher than usual — about 5 feet — and are made of laths securely fastened witli wire, which is stretched between posts set 15 or 20 feet apart (see corral in PI. Ill, p. 47). Several kinds are in use, but in any case the fence sliould bo built well down to the ground, and may be still further protected by running a barbed wire along the surface of the ground, or by turning a furrow against the bottom to prevent the animals from crawling under. A horizontal board fence may be ren- dered rabbit proof by nailing slats between the boards or by placing the lower boards closer together. Fencing material consisting of laths interwoven with wire is sold in large rolls and can be had in some localities ready for stringing to the ])osts. Woven wire fences are also made especially for keeping out rabbits. One of the best fences is made of galvanized wise netting with li-incli meshes stretched between posts which are set in the ground at convenient distances. The netting- should be fastened with staples on the insirle of the posts, and two barbed wires, with barbs 2i inches apart, fastened to the outside of the posts', one just clearing the ground and the other an inch above thetoj) of the netting. The barbed wires will tear any rabbit that tries to scratcli under or jump over the fence. If desirable, a third wire may be stretched a foot or two above the top of the netting, which will make a fence high enough to keep out cattle.- In regions having a heavy snowfall it may be necessary to build the fences somewhat higher, as the rabbits, taking advantage of the drifts, can oftentimes clear a low fence. This difticulty has been experienced in Idaho, and some orchardists have used a combination fence made of paling 4 feet high protected at the bottom outside by a strip of wire netting 2 feet in width. Ordinary fences made of laths or paling can not be relied on if wide si)aces are left between the slats, as the rabbits can then gnaw a hole large enough to gain entrance to the inclosure. Prof. Charles P. Fox, director of the experiment station at ]\Ioscow, Idaho, suggests that such fences can be still further protected by dip- ping the slats in a warm solution of silicate of soda or protecting them 'It may be interestiug to note that a jack rabbit has been seen to clear a 7-foot fence at a sinule leap. Mr. Charles Payne, of Wichita, Kaus., had seAeral animals confined in an inclosure of this height and actually saw one or more escape by- jumping over the fence. (Am. Field, XLII. Sept. 29, 1804, p. 295. ) nVickson, California Fruits, 1889, p. 553; 2d ed., 1891, p. 577. 86ir>— No. 8 3 34 JACK RABBITS OF THE UNITED STATES. witli sand paint. He also reports that a substitute for fencing is noTT being tried at tlie substation at Nampa, Idaho, liabbits are A^ery trou- blesome at tliis place, and in past years have destroyed almost the entire crop of alfalfa. Last spring, instead of building an expensive rabbit-proof fence, a band of alfalfa 30 feet in width was sowed around the field, which was inclosed simply with three strings of barbed wire, the idea being that jack rabbits, which usually feed around the edges of the field, will obtain sufticient food from the outside strij) and not molest that within the fence. He says ''we can grow rabbit feed in the form of alfalfa cheaper than anything else." In Australia fences have proved the best means of protection, and many miles of rabbit fences have been built by the government. One fence, running from Narromine, on the Macquarie River, to Bourke, on the Darling Eiver, and thence to Barringun, is 291 miles in length and cost on an average £82 per mile. It has recently been extended to Corowa, making the total length 703 miles. Another fence has been built from the INIurray River northward along the western boundary of New South Wales for a distance of nearly 340 miles, at art average cost of a little over £75 x'er mile. These fences were built of 17-gauge wire netting 42 inches in width and having 1^ or 1^ inch meshes. The fences are looked after by 'boundary riders,' who live in huts about 30 miles apart. Altogether the government has erected 1,049 miles of fencing in New South Wales, while the amount built by individuals has been estimated at about 15,000 niiles.^ In Queensland about G75 miles of fences have been built by the government- and in New Zealand £12,530 have been expended for the South Canterbury fence. PROTECTION OF SINGLE TREES. Where the expense of a fence is too great, young trees may be pro- tected by wrapping the stems with strips of burlap, gunny sacking, or coarse cloth an inch or two wide. These strips should be securely tied at the top and bottom. Small cylinders of wire netting, heavy paste- board, or other material are sometimes used, aiul a device known as the 'tule-tree protector,' made of the dried rushes or tules, whicli grow so abundantly in the San Joaquin River swamps in California, has been patented for this express purpose. Recently cylinders made of thin strips of yucca wood {Yucca arborescens), with the edges fastened together by wire, have been placed on the market. They come in sev- eral sizes and are readily i)ut in position. While they shield the stems from the sun their value in ])rotecting the trees from jack rabbits is oi)en to (question. SMEARS. Some orchardists advocate i^ainting the trunks of the trees with mixtures distasteful to rabbits. Whitewashing is said to prove effect- ' Coghlan, Wealth and Pros^ross of New South Wales, 1894, Vol. I. p. 356. - Yeai' Book of Australia, 18'Jl, p. 145. SMEARS. 35 ive in some cases, particularly if a mixture of glue and copperas is added to the solution. The mixture is made as follows: Take a bushel of unslaked lime and add sutiicient water, then add two pounds of dissolved glue, and stir in thoroughly one pound of copperas. Another mixture which is said to work well consists of one pound of commercial aloes with four gallons of water. A tea made by steeping quassia chips is also used.' A combination of i)otash and clay is occasionally emploj^ed, and is mixed so as to have a consistency like that of thick cream. A writer in the 'American Garden' recommends rubbing the bark thoroughly with blood or grease, and asserts that rabbits will not touch trees that have been treated in this way. He adds: "In the case of trees which have been gnawed or peeled, the wound should be covered with a cloth on which is spread a little grafting wax. This not only excludes the air, but also helps the injured part to heal.'' The New Zealand department of agriculture has recently recommended a paint made of cow dung, clay, and soot and slightly flavored with tar or spirits of tar for protecting the stems of trees from rabbits.- Too much reliance should not be placed on smearing the trunks of trees, and no mixture should beused which contains petroleum in any form. Blood or grease will soon cease to be effective and it becomes necessary to repaint the trees in a short time. ' Wickscii, /. c, p. 553; 2(1 ed., p. 577. "Leaflets for Gardeuers, etc., No. 10, June, 1895, p. 8. CHAPTER IV. METHODS OF DESTRUCTION. The destructiou of rabbits Las been so carefully iuvestigated iu Australia tLat it may be well to refer briefly to the couclusious arrived at by the Royal Commission which was aj^pointed to inquire into schemes for the extermination of rabbits in Australasia. In a procld,- matiou dated August 31, 1887, the government of New South Wales offered a reward of £25,000 for the effectual extermination of rabbits by any method or process not previously known in the colony, but three years later a report was made that "after prolonged and careful study of all the proposals which have been submitted, the commission finds that no scheme has been propounded for the extermination of rabbits which complies with the terms of the proclamation.'"' INOCULATION. The question of introducing infectious diseases was also carefully considered, but while the commission "found no evidence to warrant the belief that any known disease can be so employed as to exterminate rabbits," it suggested that many diseases would ])robably be found useful auxiliaries in keeping the rabbit plague within manageable proportions.^ The success of disease as a means of destruction depends on two conditions: (1) It must be fatal to the rabbits; (!') it nuist not injure man or domesticated animals. The Australian experiments were juainly couflned to the effects of (1) chicken cholera, (2) the so-called ^Tin- tinallogy disease,' (3) diseases caused by the bladder worm {Camii- rus), and (4) by rabbit scab {tiarcoptes cunieuli). It Avas found that while the rabbits were easily killed by putting microbes of chicken cholera iu their food the disease did not spread freely from infected to healthy animals. The Tintinallogy disease takes its name from a sta- tion on the east bank of the Darling River near IMenindie, New South Wales, where a peculiar affection was noticed among the rabbits iu September 1887. The principal symptoms are erection of the fur, begiu- 'New South Wales Roy. Comm. Inquiry Exterm. Rabbits iu Austral iisia, Fiual Report, 1890, p. 11. 2L. c, p. 3. 36 METHODS OF DESTRUCTION IN AUSTRALIA. 37 niiigoii the head ; slight discharge from the eyes and nose, lasting tliree or. four days; emaciation, followed by loss of jiower in the hind legs, and finally deatli with convulsions in about three weeks. Experiments were made with this disease on a large scale, but were only partially successful. In addition to the bladder Avorm and rabbit scab, experi- ments have been made in New Zealand with rabbit measles {Cysticercus pisifonnis) and liver coccidium {Coccidium oriforme). The latter para- site is injurious to man, and its introduction is therefore dangerous. J)iseases caused by parasites do not otler much hojie as a successful niethod of destroying rabbits, as their effects at best can be only indi- rect by bringing about a condition of general weakness and emaciation, and thereby rendering the animal more subject to attacks of other dis- eases. A full account of these experiments will be found in the report of Prof A. P. W. Thomas on The Rabbit Nuisance in New Zealand, 188.S, and the Keport of the New South AVales Koyal Con)mission on the Introduction of Contagious Diseases amongst liabbits, Sydney, 188!>. Further inquiry into the epidemic and parasitic diseases of rabbits was advised by the New South Wales commission, and it may be added that this means of destruction seems to promise better success in this country, where large nund)ers of jack rabbits are destroyed every few years by ei)idemics. METHODS USED IN AUSTRALIA. No less than 1,456 persons submitted schemes to the Australian commission for the destruction of rabbits by methods other than dis- ease. The various schemes were arranged under the following heads:' 1. Commercial utilization. 7. Miscellaneous, iucludiug firing the country, 2. Fencing. cutting oii" from food and water, hunting 3. Poisons. and trai)ping parties, etc. 4. Natural enemies. 8. Indetiuitc methods. 5. Traps. 9. General methods. 6. Electricity. 10. Methods involving special legislation. A method which has been tried with some success in New South Wales, consists in capturing a number of rabbits alive and allowing the males to escape after killing all the females. As soon as the males begin to predominate in numbers, it is said that they persecute the females with their attentions to such an extent as to prevent them from breeding, and also kill the young that hai)pen to be born.- The Australian commissioners did not favor commercial utilization, because "the principle of making rabbits a profitable article of com- merce is universally condemned by practical men interested in their destruction, on the ground that it leads to their conservation." This method, however, has recently been brought to notice and seems to be one of the most promising (see pp. 05-78). 'Final Report. 1890, pp. 8-4. ^Nature, XXXIX, Mardi 21. 1889. pp. 193-494. 38 JACK RABBITS OF THE UNITED STATES. The question offences has already been discussed under the head of preveution of injury to crops (pp. 33-34). Poisons, bounties, and natural enemies will be considered in detail further on. The other schemes were found to be either impracticable or unworthy of recommendation for use on a large scale. The most successful traps used in New South Wales have been yards or inclosures made of rabbit-proof fence with openings which allow the rabbits to enter but prevent their getting out. Such traps have been found most efHcient in dry seasons, when food and water are scarce. Several methods of using electricity were submitted, but all were . found impracticable. Firing might be employed in some cases, but is attended with more or less danger. Cutting off the animals from food can only be used under certain favorable conditions. Hunting and trapi)ing parties have not accomi^lished nnich in Aus- tralia, but in certain parts of the United States a modification of this method has proved to be the most successful means of destroying large numbers of jack rabbits. (See chapter on rabbit drives, pp. 47-04.) POISON. In this country poison has been used to some extent, although less successfully than the gun and club. As none of the jack rabbits bur- row, the poison must be scattered about on the surface of the ground where the rabbits are likely to find it, but the bait should not be placed where domesticated animals or poultry can eat it. Promfscuous scattering of poison in the orchard and vineyard is not to be recom- mended under ordinary circumstances, and when it can not be placed in holes or out of the reach of animals for wliich it was not intended the danger is greatly increased. The importance of this fact can hardly be overestiiuated, and every possible precaution should be taken in using poison for jack rabbits. In Australia experiments have been made with strychnine, phosphorus, arsenic, corrosive sublimate, lead salts, tartar emetic, barium carbonate, and sulphate of iron. Arsenic may be simjily sprinkled on any food which will attract the rabbits, but it is more effectual when dissolved and the bait soaked in the solution. Paris green, Loudon puri)le, lead salts, tartar emetic, barium carbonate, and suli)hate of iron have not been found sufiiciently active for killing rabbits, and corrosive sublimate has a powerful acrid and metallic taste, which may render it unpalatable to them. Of all the poisons mentioned above, strychnine is the most effective. As the ordinary crystals of strychnine are almost insoluble in water, the sulphate should be used when the poison is to be dissolved. It may be placed on bits of watermelon, cantaloupe, or vegetables of which the rabbits are fond, and scattered around the orchard or vine- yard, llabbits are said to be attracted by a mixture composed of half a teaspoouful of powdered strychnine, two teasi)oonfuls of line salt, and four of granulated sugar, thoroughly shaken up and placed in small POISON. 39 piles on a board.' Dr. Joliii Strentzel, of Martinez, Cal., recommends mixing tlie stryclmine with grain wliich has been well sweetened with oil of anise or rhodium and ijlaciug it where it will be readily found by the animals. Mr. A. J'lumley, of Byron, Cal., uses dry pul- verized strychnine with wheat or barley that has been soaked in water and slightly warmed. Sugar and flour are added in suitable quantities and the poison carefully mixed with the grain ;ind spread out to dry. The addition of sugar and flour makes the strychnine adhere to the grain, and the mixture is reported highly successful. Maj. G. F. Merriam, of Twin Oaks, Cal., recommends soaking the wheat in water containing strychnine. The wheat is barely covered with water and allowed to soak until the grain is soft, and then dried as thoroughly and (piickly as possible. A handful of this dry wheat is ]»laced among the vines or scattered in the trails made by the rabbits. Phos])liorus is advocated by maiij' persons, but it must be thoroughly soaked into the grain; if simply deposited on the outside and not cov- ered with some protective material it will oxidize rapidly. Wheat soaked in water containing phosphorus is highly recommended. It should be used in the following proportion: One hundred pounds of grain, 1 pound of phosphorus, 1 pound of sugar, 1 ounce of oil of rho- dium to 0 gallons of water. The mixture should be heated to the boiling x>oint and allowed to stand over night, then enough tlour added to make it a paste. ^ In Australia preparations of phosi)horus have been more generally used, A writer in the ' Kyneton Guardian' gives the following directions for preparing the poison : Four and one-half ounces of phosphorus are put into a gallon of boiling water and kept boiling for thirty minutes, while the ])liosphorus is thoroughly stirred. The liquid should be passed througli a fine strainer. Fourteen or 15 pounds of malt are then stirred in and allowed to boil slowly for fifteen minutes, and finally 3 pounds of fiour and 4 pounds of sugar are added. The mixture is sown like turnip seed, in furrows plowed here and there iu rabbit- infested places. Another method of preparing phosphorus, known as the 'Lascelles process,' "consists in (1) dissolving the phosphorus in bisulphide of carbon, (2) mixing the solution so obtained in a churn with flour paste so as to form an emulsion, and (."J) coating the wheat in a revohing cylinder with this emulsion. The solution of phosphorus is made and kept under water, so as to prevent spontaneous combustion. This method has the advantages of facility and (piickuess, of the even dis- tribution of the poison over the grain, and also of the prevention of volatilization by the coating with flour paste.'' ^ ' Wicksou, California Fruits, 1889. p. 554 ; 2d ed., 1891, p. 578. -Final Report, Royal Comm. IiKpiiry into Schemes Exterm. Rabbits Australasia, 1890. p. 6. 40 JACK. lUBBlTS or THE UNITED STATES. BOUNTIES. Bounties have been paid on jack rabbits in five of the Western States — California, Idaho, Oregon, Texas, and Utah — but the amounts have been small as compared with similar expenditures for the destruc- tion of other animals. In Oregon, Texas, and Utah the rates were fixed by State laws, but in California the bounties varied in different counties. Bounties on rabbits have been even less successful, so far as extermination is concerned, than those offered for coyotes, prairie dogs, pocket gophers, or ground squirrels. CALIFORNIA. One the main objects of bounties in California, particularly those offered by the counties in the San Joaquin Valley, was to encourage rabbit drives, and in some cases the payments were almost sufiicient to defray such expenses. Eight counties have offered bounties during recent years, namely, Butte, Colusa, Fresno, Modoc, San Bernardino, Shasta, Sutter, and Tulare. In the case of Sutter County, and possibly one or two others, the returns include amounts expended for pocket gophers and ground squirrels. Bounties are seldom offered on rabbits aloue, and it is difficult to obtain the amounts expended for each species. A rate of 10 cents per scalp was paid both by Butte and Colusa counties — the highest rate paid for any considerable length of time. In Butte County it was maintained from January 7, 1887, to February 1, 1890; in Colusa, from February 10, 1888, to September 12, 1802. The bounty was then reduced to 4 cents and continued to February 1, 1894. In Fresno the bounty was offered merely to defray the expenses of the rabbit drives, and was not i)aid unless at least 1,000 pairs of ears were presented at one time. The total amount expended was about $500, indicating that more than 33,000 scalps were received. In the spring of 1880 the supervisors of Modoc County ottered 3 cents apiece for rabbit scalps, and in three months expended $826.77 for 27,559 scalps.' The bounty offered by San Bernardino County about two years after the passage of the coyote scalp act of 1891, is uniijuefrom the fact that its main object was to offset the effect of the State bounty on coyotes. The ordinance went into etfect August 25, 1893, and expfred by limita- tion on December 0 of the same year. It jnovided that the rabbits must be killed within 2 miles of a cultivated orchard, nursery, vineyard, or alfalfa field not less than 1 acre in extent, and the scalps must be deposited within thirty days with a justice of the peace of the town- ship in which the animals were killed. Tulare County expended $5,000 for bounties on ground s(iuirrels previous to November 1894, besides paying $3,000 for bounties on rab- ' Forest and Stieaui, XXVil, August 5, 1886, p. 26, BOUNTIES. 41 bits. The ' Los Angeles Times' states that no less than 4,000 scalps were secured in the drive near Traver, March G, 1892, and as many as 5,391 have been deposited by a single person at one time. The ordinance under which these bounties were ])aid will serve as an illustration of those in other counties. It was passed October ol, 1891, and reads as follows : Okuinanck No. 46. Tlie l)Ocard of suiiervisors of tho Couuty of Tulare, State of California, do ordain as follows : Section 1. [Provides for a bounty of 2i cents on ground squirrel scalps.] Skc. 2. That a bounty of one and one-half (.$0.0U) cents be paid by this county on each and every scalj) taken from a, jack rabbit, containing both ears of said dead animal, killed or destroyed by any person or ])erson8 in this couuty, upon the said person or persons so killing or destroying said animal dejmsitiug said scalper scalps with any iiotary public, justice of the peace, or any oliicer authorized by law to take affidavits, and certify claim with said aflidavit, together with aflidavit of such officer that said scalp or scalps have been destroyed by lire to this board. Sec. 3. That said bounty shall be paid by the county until such time when the funds set apart for that purpose shall be exhausted, or until this ordinance be rei)ealed or rescinded by this board. Sec. 4. That this ordinance take effect and be in force from and after the 31st day of October, 1891. Sec. 5. [Provides for iiublication of the ordinance.] So far as figures are available, the amount expended in California is about $10,000, although no returns have been received from Sau Bernardino County. The amounts disbursed are shown below: liable showing expenditures for Bounties by Counties in California. County. Butte . . Colusa. Fresno Modoc San Keruariliuo. Sha.sta Sutter Tulare Bounty iu force. Number i Rate per of scalps. { scalp. Jan. 7, 1887, to Feb. 1, 18!(0. ... 5Feb. 10, 1888, to Si'i't. 12, 1892. ?Sept. 12, 1892, to Feb. 1, 1894. . . 35, 000 ;n, 000 27. 559 Three months, 1886 Aug. 25 to Dec. 6, 1893 Alay 11, 1891, to Mar. 1, 1892 Sept. 25, 1893, to July 9, 1 894 .'. Oct. 31, 1891, to Nov!, 1894 > j * 200, 000 Ceiits. 10 ^% 14 3 20 5 8 HI Amount expended. $3, 500. 00 4, 800. 00 500. 00 826. 77 342. 55 1 3, 040. 42 3, 000. 00 * Estimated from amounts expended. t Includes also bounties on gopliers and ground siiuirrels, at 5 cents per scalp. IDAHO. Two counties iu Idaho — Ada and Canyon — are now paying bounties on jack rabbits at the rate of 3 cents per scalp. Mr. Charles S. Kings- ley, county clerk, has kindly supplied the tigures for the expendi- tures iu Ada Couuty, and wrote, under date of August 24, 1895, as follows: ''The county began the payment of bounty July, 1878. and from that time until October, 1880, paid $8,129.75; from the latter date to the 42 JACK RABBITS OF THE UNITED STATES. 8tli day of July, 1895, tlie couuty paid the sum of $22,963.69, making an aggregate of $31,093.44. " I have myself been much interested in these iigures, and find that during the 33 quarters embraced in the first i)eriod stated the average quarterly amount was $232.27, while during the 35 quarters embraced in the last period the average quarterly payment amounted to $850.50. It is noteworthy that during 1887 (latter part), 1888, 1889, and part of 1890 the average (piarterly payments dropi^ed to approximately $100. This was due to the very great destruction of rabbits during the winter of 1887 by extreme cold. It is thus seen that the average has been growing larger, notwithstanding the bounty, and the figures for the last quarter are $2,520.65 j that, with the current quarter, are of course the heavy quarters of the year, and it is possible the total average per quarter for the year [1895] will not exceed $1,000. These figures seem to indicate that the bounty is not a success in the matter of exterminating the pests," — and yet at the rate of 3 cents apiece more" than 1,000,000 rabbits must have been destroyed. OREGON. Under the session laws of Oregon, 1887, a bounty varying from 1 to 5 cents was ottered for jack rabbits. The law specially stated that this bounty was to be paid for the Black-tailed Rabbit, and none seems to have been i)aid on the Plains Jack llabbit {Lepus campestris), which occurs in the same region. During the years 1888, 1889, and 1890, Lake County paid bounties on 54,000 rabbit scalps at the rate of 4 cents each, • amounting in all to $2,160. TEXAS. In April, 1891, the legislature of Texas passed "An act to protect stock raisers, farmers, and horticulturists," which provided — That liereafter when any person shall kill any wolf, either coyote or lobo, pan- ther, Mexican lion, tiger, leopard, wild-cat, catamonnt, or jack rabbit, he shall be l)aid in the county in which he kills such animal or animals the sum of two dollars for each coyote, and the sum of one dolUir for each wild-cat or catamount, and the sum of five dollars for each panther, lobo, Mexican lion, tiger, or leopard, and the sum of one dollar per dozen for jack rabbits, and fifty cents per dozen for prairie dogs so killed.' The sum of $50, 000 was appropriated and expended in carrying out the provisions of this law. Unfortunately it has not been possible to obtain the amounts paid for each of the animals named, so that the total bounty on jack rabbits can not be stated. The burden of this expenditure fell so heavily on some of the southwestern counties of the State that the law was repealed in March, 1895, and a new act substi- tuted which made the payment of bounties optioiuil with the counties, and omitted jack rabbits and prairie dogs from the list of proscribed animals. 1 General Laws of the State of Texas, 22d legislature, 181H, p. KJO, chap. 100, sec. 1. EXPENDITURES IN AUSTRALIA. 43 UTAH. Section 2114 of the laws of Utah for 1800 authorized the county courts to offer bounties for the destruction of jack rabbits and certain other injurious animals. On September 1, 180;j, a bounty of 5 cents per seal]) was placed on rabl)its by the court of Boxelder County. This rate was maintained until January 28, 1S05, when it was reduced to 2 cents per scalp. The county clerk reports that up to Decemb<'r .'>1, 1805, bounties had been paid on 111 coyotes at 50 cents each, while more than 1500 had been expended for rabbits, as follows: Table .showinf) exjjendiiures fur Bounties iv Utah. County. Datu. Number of scalps. Rate per .scalp. Amount exi)en(leecies of animals, aggregate about $100,000, an amount which is insignificent when compared with that spent iu Australia. EXPENDITURES IN AUSTRALIA. The common rabbit of Europe {Lepus cuniculus) was introduced into Australia about the year 1804 at Barwon Park, near (Jeeloug, Victoria.' In the course of a few years it spread over Victoria and westward into South Australia, crossing the IMurray River in 1878. The following year legislative action for the destruction of the pest was inaugurated by South Australia, and the example was soon followed by Victoria, New South Wales, Xew Zealaud, Queensland, and Tasmania. No less than 19,182,530 rabbits were destroyed m New South Wales alone in 1887.2 But in addition to the direct payment of bounties, the govern- ments of the colonies iiave ex])ended large sums for poisons, for experi- ments on various methods of destruction, and have built several thousand miles of rabbit-proof fences. As shown by the following table, tlic total amount expended up to 1888 was £1,003,800 (more than $5,000,000) in addition to £0(),2(J4 (nearly $500,000) ftn- fences. 'According to Hon. James M. Morgan, formerly United States consul-general at Melbourne, rabbits were first introduced in western Victoria about 1860, lor the purpose of sport. (Consular Reports for Dec, 1886, XX, p. 482.) - Circular on Rabbit Do.structiou, Committee New South Wales Conim. Pastoral and Agr; Ass., Jan., 1888. 44 JACK RABBITS OF THE UNITED STATES. Government ICxpenditures for Denlrmtion of Rabbits in Australia and Neio Zealand, ]S79-iSSS.* Colony. Date. Amount. Remarks. New South Wales Queensland South Australia Victoria New Zealand 1883-1888 Up to Dec, 1887 1881-1888 1879-1888 1882-1888 f £732, 236 C) 128, 5!»5 131, 724 18, 453 82, 882 £23,997 also expended for fences. £59,737 for fences. On unoccupied Crown lands. £12,530 also expended for South Canterbury fence. Tasmania May, 1883-Jan.,1888.. Total 1, 093, 890 Add £96,264 for fences. * Progress Ilept. New South "Wales Royal Cora. Inquiry Exterm. Rabbits, 1890, App. IT. pp. 190-102. . t Hon; J. H. Carruthers, Minister for Lands, gives £831,457 4s. Id., as the total amount expended from the passage ot the rabbit act in 1883 to June 30, 1890. The figures for each year are less in nearly every case than in the statement quoted above, but represent the sums disbursed " solely for the pur- pose of attempting to get rid of the rabbit." FroTU .July 1. 1890, to December 31. 1894, the expenditure amounted to only £22,761, which was devoted to fences. (Rept. Conference Rabbit Pest in New South Wales, 1895, p. 6.") ♦Total expenditures up to 1S94 (largely for fences), £136,484 8s. (Tear Book Australia for 1894, p. 145.) NATURAL ENEMIES OF JACK RABBITS. Birds of prey seldom molest the larger hares. Among those whicli are known to feed on jack rabbits are the barn owl {8trix iwatincohi)^ Audubon's caracara {Polyhorus cher'ncay)^ prairie falcon {Faleo mexi- caniis), and western red-tailed hawk; but remains of the Texan rabbit have been found in the stomach of the red-tail in only three cases among a large number examined. The western horned owl [Bubo mrginianus suharcticus) and the golden eagle {Aquila ehryscetos) should also be mentioned. The marsh hawk {Circus Jiudsonius) occasionally attacks rabbits, and Mr. J. Alden Loring shot one at Vernon, Tex., while in the act of killing a young Jack rabbit whicli weighed a pound and a half. The mammals in this list are likewise few in unmber, the most important being the coyote {Canis lafrans), gray \vo\f {Canis mihilus), long-eared fox {Vulpes macrotis), gray fox [Urocyon), and wild-cat {Lynx). Skunks, weasels, and badgers may occasionally destroy the young, but seldom, if ever, the full-grown hares. The badger, an inde- fatigable hunter of the ground squirrel and the prairie dog, is too slow of foot to overtake the jack rabbit in a fair race, and is unable to cor- ner him in a hole, as he can a burrowing animal. On the Great Plains the gray wolf undonbtedly destroys large num- bers of jack rabbits in the region from (3olorado northward. In Mon- tana, according to Dr. George Bird Grinnell,' "The abundance or scarcity of the prairie hare in any district depends almost altogether on the number of wolves to be found in the same tract of country. Where all the coyotes and gray wolves have been killed or driven off, the hares exist in great numbers; but where the former are abundant, the latter are seldom seen. We saw none near the Missouri River, where the buffaloes, and consequently the wolves, were numerous; but at Camp ' Ludlow's Rept. Reconnaissauce Yellowstone Nat. Park, 1876, p. 69. EPIDEMICS. 45 Baker, where there Mere scarcely auy Molves, the hares Avere very common." The coyote is a most effective rabbit destroyer and accomplishes more good in this way than he usually receives credit for. His true value, however, is beginning" to be appreciated by fruit growers. The following notes contributed t)y Mr. V^ernon Bailey show how coyotes sometimes prey on jack rabbits. Mr. Bailey says: lu trapping on tlio groasewood Hats about Kultoii, iu northern Utah, ilnriug the latter ])art of October, 1S88, I noticed iu many places that jack rabbits (Lepus texianus) had been killed and eaten by souie iiniuiai. The feet, bits of skin, and fur were usually all that reniain<;d, but I iuiuiediately attributed this destruction to coyotes, and later on was able to verify the conclusion by finding remains of rabbits surrounded liy fresh coyote tracks. In a walk of a mile it was common to see where a dozen had been eaten, and I could even see wiiero the coyotes had run and caught the rabbits. I was surprised at the number killed, although l)oth rabbits and coyotes were numerous. As I walked through the brush jack rabbits would jump np and run every few minutes, and coyotes were fre(|uently seen. In this particular spot the numerous bunches of greasowood {Sareobattis) scattered over the smooth valley bottom gave the coyotes a great advantage, enabling them to approach close to the rabbits and probably catch them before they got fairly started. It is very doubtful if a coyote can catch a jack rabbit iu a fair race on open ground. About five years ago the State of California offered a bounty of $5 each for coyote scalps. The act was passed March 31, 185*1, and i>ro- vided that such scalps should be deposited with the clerk of the board of supervisors of the county in which the animal was taken, within three months after the date of capture, and must be accompanied by an affi- davit showing the time and place that the animal was killed. The law practically remained in force up to September 30, 1891*, when the State board of examiners refused to pass on any claims for scalps taken sub- se^ D R D H mals when once surrounded. A square or triangular in- closure, open at one end, is constructed of wire netting — or of laths securely fas- tened close together. Often a corner of some old corral is simjjly made rabbit-tight, and from the open end of the pen diverging fences or wings are carried out in the form of a wide-mouthed V, sometimes for a distance of 2 or 3 miles (see fig. 1). The fences are occasionally made in sections, so that they can be transported from one place to another, and thus used for several drives. The Goshen Rabbit Drive Club, organized in the spring of 1888, had an 'outfit' which cost about $150, and wa« considered one of the best in the San Joaquin Valley; it was used mainly near Goshen, but was also moved to Huron, Fresno County, where it did duty for some time. This outfit consisted of 1 mile of wire netting 28 inches wide, and 400 iron stakes three-fourtiis of an inch in diameter and o or 4 feet long. The Stakes were set 15 or 20 feet apart, and the netting fastened to them. At the apex of the wings a circular corral was built 00 to 200 feet in diameter and provided with a sliding gate (see p. 50). Mr. Charles S. Greene, in describing the drive at Traver on April 8j 1892,1 states that the wings used on that occasion were made of wire B Fia.l. — Diagram showing form of corral used in rabbit drive at Bakorsfield, Oal., Jan 15, 1888. A, B, portable wired picket fence, 1 mile long; C, corral; D, drivers; E, entrance to corral; 11, rabbits. (From Am. Field 1888.) 1 Overland Monthly, 2cl ser., XX, Jnly, 1892, p. 54. 8615— No 8 4 50 . JACK RABBITS OF THE UNITED STATER. . netting and were not more tlian 2 feet high. Although he saw rabbits leap much higher during the early part of the drive they made no attemj^t to escai)e over the fences when the wings were reached, the animals evidently being too wearied, as they had been driven for some distance. On the other hand, in a small drive which took place near Claremont on September 0, 1803, no wings or corral were built, but an attempt was made to utilize a corner of a stone wall 3 or 4 feet in height instead. The rabbits were driven only a short distance and when the wall was reached it is said that most of them went over it like sheep, and comparatively few were killed. In the great drive at Wildflower, Fresno County, the wings, made of wire netting, were 3 feet in height and extended for a distance of 7 miles, converging toward a circular corral at the apex. ' A drive always means a gala day, and is a favorite way of celebrat- ing some special occasion. The announcement is the signal for a gathering of tlie clans from all the neighboring country and the population of the place is increased to sev- eral times its normal size when sucli an event takes place. Excursionists are at- tracted in large numbers by the special rates oflered by the railroads, and sometimes Fig. 2.— Diagram showing form of portablo corral iisctl l)y cQme from l)OiutS aS far the Goshen Kabbit Drive Club. A, B, wings of wire netting each half a mile long; C, distant aS SaU FraUCiSCO corral GO to 200 feet m diameter; E, sliding gate. (From ^nd SacramCUtO. UpOU the M. S. Featherstone.) ■ ^ -, ^ ■, ap])ointed day large num- bers of people turn out armed with sticks and clubs, and, scattering over a considerable nrea, start the rabbits and drive them toward the mouth of the corral. Every available vehicle is pressed into service, but the larger part of the throng is usually on foot. The lines grad- ually close in, and the frightened rabbits, urged on by bh)ws and shouts, rush blindly into the opening between the wings and are grad- ually crowded toward the narrow end of the pen Avhere they are soon disi)atched with clubs. Firearms arc seldom used either in driving or killing, as clubs are cheaper, safer, and ecjually effective. The drives take place in winter or si)ring, and the number of labbits killed varies from a few hundred u[) to ten or even twenty thousand in a. single day. The town of Traver regularly celebrates its birthday in April by a rabbit drive and barbecue. On April 8, 18i>2, it was estimated that no less than C,()()0 persons were present, and more than 4,000 people and 1,000 teams took part. See iigure iu Scieutific; American, LXI, No. !!•., Nov. it, 1880, i>. 295. •> ^ ^ r* 5 UJ I- < ,7'- ■%. ,«', 1 si • > »■■' •^' pj^ ) K V fV..'>' - .' ♦^1 ;•■{/ ■*v-- Q LlJ m < o < o o o o CM I < tr O O ? Z M ^ SI < -5 i o ^3 CQ CQ < tr < < CC O I _l CO UJ CC *S^£i£^- ■ t c f r r »- DRIVES IN CALIFORNIA. 51 A writer in the Chicago Tribune of October 1, 1lace near Pix- ley, in Tulare County, on November 14, 1887, a year and a half after the Hauford slaughter. Firearms of all kinds were forbidden, and dogs were not allowed within the lines. A corral of rabbit-proof wire was made, and from its entrance two V-shaped wings extended a distance of a mile and a half. Into this space the rabbits were driven. Many hundreds stampeded and broke through the line, but the result of the drive was 2,000. The modem inetliod of driving rabbits into a corral seems to have originated with Mr. W. J. Browning, a professional hnnter, of Tipton, Tulare County. Stimulated by an offer of $1,000 for 1,000 live Jack rabbits for coursing, Mr. Browning undertook to capture the animals by driving them into a corral made by stretching lish nets between posts. In a letter dated January 15, 1895, he says : " I commenced the busi- ness of trapping jack rabbits with a corral drive net, witli wings about half a mile long, during the summer of 1882. I have shipped many thousands to all parts of the country, alive, for coursing purposes. * * * In driving, I use six or eight men mounted on good horses, and in this manner usually trap from 50 to 500 jacks. The big drives of this State were patterned after my system, as the first drive I ever heard of outside of my own was made [at Pixley] in this county in 1887, in tlie mouth of Xovember." In order to obtain all the information possible on the subject of rab- bit driving, Mr. J. Ellis McLellan, a, field agent of the division, was detailed to visit Merced, Fresno, Bakersfield, and other points in the San Joaquin Valley in the autumn of 1894. Mr. McLellan gathered manyfactsof interest, and the following brief account has been mainly condensed from his reports, while the list of drives on pages 5.5-,j7 is largely the result of his energy in collecting data. Early in the autumn of 1887 the question of taking measures for a wholesale destruction of jack rabbits was discussed in Kern County, but nothing was done for some months, and the project would probably have proved a failure through apathy or opposition had it not been vigorously agitated by the ]»ress. In the meantime, however, an exper- iment was made at Pixley, Tulare County, and the first ])ublic drive took place there on November 14, 1887. Two thousand rabbits were killed, and it was demonstrated that jack rabbits could be successfully driven into a corral. Another drive took place on December 3, and 1,000 more were slaughtered. Babbit driving began in earnest in Kern County on January 2, 1888. The first drive was made near 54 JACK RABBITS OF THE UNITED STATES. Bakersfleld, and was followed by others at intervals of a week or ten days with such success tliat the method attracted widespread atten- tion throughout the valley. Great interest was aroused in Tulare County, and on February 25 the 'Pioneer Rabbit Drivers' Club' was formed and driving was nndertaken by various towns in quick succes- sion. The first drive near Tii)ton took place January 28, at Tulare on February 1, at Waukena February 11, at Yisalia March 10, and at Traver April 7. Not to be outdone by Kern and Tulare counties, the citizens of Fresno met on February 8, and decided to arrange for a rabbit drive and barbecue, which was held on March IG, An association for rabbit driving was also organized in Merced County, and the first drive took place at Merced on March 24. During this time the matter seems to have been dropped at Pixley and the credit of originating the novel method of rabbit destruction was claimed by several other towns. In February and March, 1888, rabbit driving seems to have reached its height in the San Joaquin Valley. It was estimated by the news- papers that nearly 20,000 rabbits were killed in Tulare County during March alone; while about 40,000 were destroyed in Fresno, and 70,000 each in Kern and Tulare counties during the spring of 1888. With the close of this season there was a noticeable falling off in the num- ber of drives, either through lack of interest or because the rabbits had decreased in numbers to some extent. Comparatively few took place in 1890 and 1891, but in the spring of 1892 several large ones were made in Fresno County, The largest on record occurred between Easton and Oleander, 10 or 15 miles southwest of Fresno, and formed the closing event of an encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic at Fresno, March 12, 1 892. It is said that 8,000 people were present, and the estimates of the number of rabbits killed vary from 20,000 to 30,000 (see PI. IV). The central location of Fresno makes it an easy matter to bring together large numbers of people at short notice. Since 1892 there has been a still further decrease both in the number and size of the drives, and except at Traver, hardly any large ones have taken place in the State. The custom has been somewhat revived during 189."> and 1894 in Modoc County, where it is said a few drives were held in 1889. It is impracticable to give a complete list of all the drives or an accurate st.atement of the number of rabbits killed. The figures pub- lished in newspapers are ])robab]y often exaggerated, l)ut in most cases afford the only data available. With the assistance of many correspondents statistics for about a hundred and fifty of the more important drives have been collected.' As shown by the following table, more than 370,000 rabbits have been destroyed, but these ])rob- ably represent only a small i)roportion of the total number actually killed in California. 'Tlie writer is indebted to many persons for aid iu the ])reparation of the follow- ing list. Besides those named below should be mentioned Messrs. Charles H. Shinn, of Berkeley, Walter 1'.. Bryant, of Oakland, and F. H. Holmes, of Berryessa, who have assisted in various ways. Bull. 8, Div, Ornithology and Mannmalogy, U S. Dept. Agriculture. Plate V. 119 JaaJrTW^^A 118 W^K^JMml in^ ^ivin gstoTv V 37 36 35 / M] MKlo' / 'iS?ilii&. iLaVi incL F R E S N a-*^^ ---^^ .■-^37 ll|i=^.;*=S==- resao lulare Ttpton Delano ■'^•W^%''^^^ 36 \^ 1 .;^^W:^jpl^ l^t •%l4:>Mt.ViewDair)r< Jvtoliave IT.T^''^ 'i^'t^CI ^,^iM^I^&^i!fi^'i^' !L o s An^el L laremont J 17' 35 3t Map showing Location of Rabbit Drives in Southern California. Drives have occurred at each place maiked with a black spot. DRIVES IN CALIFORNIA. 55 List of California Rabbit Drives, Locality. Fresno County. Cinithora (6 miles wist ) Easton (12 inilus aoutliwest of Fresuo). Do. Do. Fresno (5 miles south) . . Do Do Do Fresno (10 miles south). Fresno Do Do Huron Wild Fliiwcr Do Kern County. BakersUcld Do. Do. Bakersficld (Houghton dairy) Bakersficld (4 miles west)... B a k o r s li e 1 (1 ( Kosedalo, 3 miles nortli). Do Do Rakeistiold (5 miles south) . Bakerslield (0 miles south- east). Do Do Delano Dilano (10 Tniles southwest) . . Delano (9 miles west) Delano Date. Fel). 22, 1892 Fob. 13,1892 Mar. Mar. 12. 1892 18, 1892 Mar. Apr. Apr. Mar. Mar. Mar. May Jnlv Mar. Mar. Jan. 24, 1888 12. 1888 25, 1888 23. 1889 13, 1893 18, 1893 .1, 1894 12, 1891 14, 1888 1, 1889 2, 1888 10, 1888 9, 1888 1,1888 Jan. 20, 1889 May 3,1891 Jan. Feb. Oct. Ilagfrin i: Carr Itanch, Kern Island. Mount View dairy '» (13 miles southwest of Bakerslield). Do Do Do Mount View dairy'" (13 miles southwest of ISakerslield) (shotgun drive). Mount View dairy "'(13 miles southwest of liakerstield). Mount View , 1888 Mar. 4,1888 Mar. 3, 1889 Mar. 16, 1888 Rabbits killed. 7,460 1 14, (100 2 20,000 ^2, (100 1,500^ 900 s ■" 14, 723 300 1,200 151 io, 50(V 1,(100 2. 500 Authority. 6 12, 000 « 1,126? 796 < '5,075) 500 s 3, rm « 1,600 200 1,500 t> 10 '25 500 500 000 350 500 200 500 500 000 000 Alvali A. Eaton. Weekly Fresno Expositor, Feb. 17, 1892; Forest and Stream, XXXVIIl, Mar. 3, 1892, 197—15,000. Phototrraph by F. M Stiffler, Oakland. Weekly Fresno Kxixisitor, .Mar. 22. 1892. FresDC) Daily Kepublicau, Mar. 17, 1888; Expositor, Mar. 22. Fresno Daily Kepublican, Mar 25, 1888. Fresno Daily Kepublican, Apr. 13, 1888. Fresno Expositor, Apr. 25. 1888. Fresno Daily Republican Mar 24,1889. Fhotosrraph bv E. R. llig^'os Fresno. Chiea.i?() Daily News, .May 10, 1893. Daily Eveniiij; E\|Hisitor, May 5. 1894. TulareCounty'rime8(Visalia)',Julyl6, 1891. Weekly Visalia Delta, Mar. 29, 1S8H. Scientiflc Am., LXI, Nov. 9, 1889, p. 295. San Franci.sco Mining and Sci. Press, Jan. 28, 1888, p. 51. Do. Weekly Kern County Echo, Feb. 16, 1888. Weekly Kern Connty Echo, Oct. 8. 1888. Weekly Kern County Echo, Jan, 24, 1889. Weekly Kern County Echo, ^lay 7. 1891. Weekly Kern Connty Echo, May 21, 1891. (lus. Kratzmer, Bakorsfield. Weekly Kern County Echo, June 14, 1894. C. .^. Nelson, Bakerslield. B. L. Ihundage, Bakersfleld. Do. Delano Courier, Feb. 10, 1888. Delano Courier, Feb. 24. 1888. Delano Courier, July 20, 1888. Uill & Conrad. Delano. 1,200 j Geo. W. Stewart, editor Visalia Delta. "3, 500 Weekly Kern County Echo, Jan. 19, 1888. 2, 000 ! Weekly Kern County Echo, Jan. 26. 1888. 5, 000 Weekly Kern CountV Echo, Feb. 2, 1888. 5, 000 Weekly Kern County Echo, Feb. 9, 1888 500 I Weekly Kern County Echo. Feb. 16, 1888. '7,000 1,000 1,946 4,428 Weekly Kern County Echo, Feb. 23, 1888. Weekly Kern County Echo, Mar. 2, 1888. Weekly Kern County Echo, Mar. 8, 1888. Shooting and Fishing, V, Mar. 28, 1889, 13. ' Actual count— 7,000 in the corral, 7,000 dead outside. ''Thegreat (J. .\. K. drive, which took place b(^t\veeri Kastoii and Oleander; the lar^estdrive on record. The Weekly Fresno Expositor of March 16, 1802, phices the number of rabbits killed at 25,000. 3 Badly managed ; about 20,000 rabbits rounded up ; all but 2.000 escaped. ••Two drives same day; 9,723 by actual count; about 4,000 ha lauled away before count began; 1,000 taken alive for Merced coursinir match. 'Mr. M. S. I'eatlierstone, of Goshen, stati-s that only 8,000 were killed by actual count. s_2,500 estimated to have been kiUed altogether. '500 estimateil to lia\e been killed outside the corral. ^Private drive, covering 16 sections. 'Thirteen private drives. About two-thirds of these rabbits were shipped to the .^an Francisco market. '"Returns for these drives vary. Messrs. Nelson & Bailey have circulated aclipping from the Kern County Echo with their iihotograph of the drive of March 4, 1888. which gives the following figures: J.inuary2, 2.500; .lannarv 8. 6,000; January 15,5,500; .lauuary 2:i. 2.000; January 30. 4.000; February 5,5,000; FebrM:iry 9. ,'iOO;' February 12, 4,5(i0. February 19. 7,0(t0; February 23, 1,500; March 4, 2,000. "3,000. according to N E. White'in .Vmericaii Field, XXX, November 3,'l 888, 410-411. "Actual count, first drive, 5,500; second, 1,500. 56 JACK RABBITS OF THE UNITED STATES. List of California Eabhit Drives — Contiuued. Locality. Date. Kings County. Hanford (shotgun drive) Mar. 3, 1886 Haiiford (Cross Creek) 'Mar. —,1888 Hanford (Halfway to Traver) Apr. 22,1888 Los Angeles County. Claremont Sept. 9, 1893 Madera County. Berendo (Desmond Ranch) . Do. Berendo (Miller Ranch). Berendo Berendo (Miller Ranch). Berendo Do Do Do John Brown Colony Do Do Do LaViua Madera (4 miles west) — Madera (5 miles south)... Madera (3 miles west) .... Madera Madera (5 miles south) . . . Madera (3 miles west) — Merced County. Athlone (10 miles west) ; Spring, 1888 Do |....do Athlone (16 miles south) do Hartley Ranch (near Beren- ; Mar. 16, 1895 do, Madera County). Hartley Ranch ? Livingston. Do Mar. or Apr., 1888. ..-.do ....do Jan. or Apr., 1889. . Feb. or Mar., 1892. 1892 Feb. 24,1895 Feb. 28,1895 Mar. 9, 1895 A])r.orMay, 1890. Spring, 1891 Spring, 1892 Mar. —,1893 Apr. — , 1890 Dec 30,1888 Feb. — , 1889 Mar. 14, 1889 Apr. — , 1889 May — , 1889 Feb. 17,1895 Do. Do. Do. Merced Do. Do. Do. Do. Feb. 8, 1895 Apr. 4, 1893 Apr. or May, 1893. Apr. 25, 1893 1893 ? Apr. 4, 1894 Mar. 24. 1888 ilar. 28, 1S88 Apr. 4, 1888 Apr. 16,1888 Mar. 12, 1889 Modoc County. Cedarvillo (3-12 miles south) . Cedarville (7 miles north) Lake City Do Do Do Lake City (2 drives) Lake City Do Do Likely (several drives) Tulare County."^ Alila Sept. ^^^, 1888 Do ' Sep! . 22, 1 888 Goshen 1888 Do j Apr. 11, 1888 Do Jan. 20,1889 Do Feb. 15,1889 Do Mar. — , 1889 J une-July, 1893. Dec. 20,1894 Jan. 5,1893 Jan. 15,1893 Jan. 20,1893 Jan. 25, 1893 Feb. — , 1893 Dec. 30, 1894 Jan. 5, 1895 Jan. 20, 1895 1889 Rabbits killed. 3, OOOji 1.000< 1,250 ' 4, 569 100 5,000 Authority. 250 500 400 400 2,900 3,000 1, 500-1, 600 2,500 1,200 1, 400-1, 500 750 400 2,500 1,050 1,000 1, 500 250 1,200-1,500 1,200-1,500 1,200-1,500 200 2,100 8,000 2,500 1,000 250 2,000 1,000 2, 000 2, 800 1,700 2,000 3,000 260 990 500 250 345 275 250 60 50 3, 000 850 3994 1, 200 * 2, 500 700 George "W. Stewart, editor Visalia Delta. "Weekly Visalia Delta, Mar. 29, 1888. Weekly Visalia Delta, Apr. 26, 1888. Pomona Times, Sept. 13, 1893. H. D. Crow, Berendo. Do. Do. John J. Purkner, Madera. H. D. Crow, Berendo. H.D.Crow and Miss L. K. Gozzoli, Berendo. J. F. Ward, Berendo. Do. Do. John J. Purkner, Madera. L. TT. Hoskins, Madera. Do. Do. John J. Purkner, Madera. Weekly Visalia Delta, Jan. 10, 1889. John J. Purkner, Madera. J. F. Ward, Berendo. John J. Purkner, Madera. Do. Do. W. H. Bowden, Athlone. Do. Do. J. F. Ward, Berendo. Do. F. Crowell, Livingston. Do. Do. Diary of D. L. HefTner, Merced. F.- Crowell, Livingston. San Joaquin Valley Argus, Mar. 24, 1888. San Joaquin Valley Argus, Mar. 31, 1888, H. N. Wilson, Merced. " San Joaquin Valley Argus, Apr. 21, 1888, San Joaquin Valley Argus, Mar. 16, 1889. T. H. Johnston, Cedarville, Do. S. O. Cressler, Lake City. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. AVm. J. Dorris, Likely. Delano Courier, Sept. 21, 1888. Di'hino Oourier, Sept. 22. 1888 (aiiiw)uiiced). Shooting and Fishins, V, No. 13, Jan. 24, 18S9, p. 10. Weekly Visalia Delta, Apr. 12, 1888. Tulan^ Register, Feb. 1, 1889. M. S. Featlierstone, Goshen. Weekly Visalia Delta, Mar. 21, 1889. ' 3,969 in the corral, and 600 estimated to have been killed outside, all during February, Manli. and .Vpril. in which 20,000 were killed. ' About 1,000 more estimated to have escaped. Anollier drive planned for March 18. UESULTS OF THE DRIVES. Altliougli it is practically impossible to give all the rabbit drives which have occurred in California during- the last eight years, still this list of 155 drives, including the more important ones during the twenty years from 1875 to 1895, should be sufficient to show the progress of 58 JACK RABBITS OF THE UNITED STATES. rabbit (biviiig and the effect of this means of extermiuatiou. The gen- eral results may be tabulated as follows : Summarij of California liabbit Drives. Number of drives. Rabbits killed .... Average n u m b e r jier drive Before 1888. 1888. 1889. * 1890. 1891. 1892. 1893. 15 32, 010 1894. 1895. Misc. 4 8,200 55 158, 492 20 M, 963 1 750 7 14, 500 12 65, 060 29 41,310 12 11,160 '3,'756' 2,050 2,881 1,748 2,071 5,421 2, 134 , 1,424 930 Total. 155 370, 195 2,387 * Returns incomplete; 4 drives reported but figures given for only 1. An examination of tliese figures shows that in the total of 155 drives 370,195 rabbits were killed, or an average of nearly 2,400 in each drive. Eeturns for years jDrevious to 1888 have been received for only 4 drives in which 8,200 rabbits were killed, but during the si)ring of 1888 the number of drives suddenly increased to 55, and then, as the novelty wore off or the rabbits became scarcer, decreased to 7. During the same period the number of rabbits slaughtered decreased from nearly 100,000 in 1888 to 14,500 in 1891. In 1892 there were a few more drives and a decided increase in the slaughter of rabbits, due to the large drives in Fresno County. The total of 65,000 rabbits was second only to that of the season of 1888, but in the last three years there has been a decided falling off in the totals. The apparent increase in the number of drives in 1893 and 1894 is due in part to the small hunts in Modoc County, but the number in the San Joaquin Valley has continued to decline regularly until 1895, when only 12 small drives were reported. The largest number of rabbits killed in any single drive is said to have been 20,000, but the average of all the drives for any one year has varied from 5,400 down to 930 the past season. By far the greater number have been killed in the southern part of the San Joaquin Valley in a strip about 170 miles in length and 30 miles in width. If the small drives in the northern part of the State and the single one in Los Angeles County are omitted, as well as the two early shotgun drives, the result is reduced to about 356,400 rabbits killed in 140 drives during eight years, or an average annual slaughter of about 44,500 rabbits in an area scarcely as large as the States of Connecticut and Ehode Island combined. Tlie success of the drives is evident from the small number of rabbits killed during the last three years. This result, at least in Fresno County, is probably due in i)art to the appearance of an epidemic among the jack rabbits soon after the large drives of 1892. One cor- respondent writes from Selma : '' Just as it had been found possible to control their presence in the more thickly settled part [of Fresno County] an epidemic appeared among them and they died by hundreds and by thousands. * * * Since then we have kept a few dogs and the wire screen fences have been gradually taken down, and now very few rabbits are to be found among the vines." RABBIT DRIVES IN OREGON. 59 Whether the present diininution in uumbers is only temporary re- mains to be seen, but this section of California is now being settled so fast that it seems hardly possible for the rabbits to increase to their former abundance under all the forms of destruction which can be used against them. The case is instructive in showing the combined effect of natural and other means of extermination. If rabbits could be sys- tematically destroyed just after their luimbers had been reduced by an epidemic, they would receive a setback from which they would not soon recover. The decline of rabbit driving is hardly to be deplored. In the San Joaquin Valley a drive was made the occasion of a general holiday; the schools were closed and women and (children joined the throng to assist in clubbing the rabbits or to watch the slaughter. It may be ques- tioned whether such frequent scenes of butchery can have anything but an injurious effect on a community, and it is fortunate that the necessity for them does not now exist. OREGON. In Oregon the California method of destroying rabbits by drives has been recently introduced. Throughout the region east of the Cascades the black-tailed Texan Jack Rabbit {Lejms texianus) is very abundant and has become so troublesome in Lake County that $2,160 was ex- pended for its destruction during the years ISSS, 1889, and 1890, More than a dozen drives w^ere made in December 1894, and January 1895, in the vicinity of Lakeview, In one of these, which took place on January G, 1,975 rabbits were killed, Avhile the total number slaugh- tered during the two months amounted to 12,202, Several drives, resulting in the destruction of ;>,000 to 4,000 rabbits, have occurred during the winter of 1895-9(), l)ut in the absence of any detailed report they have not been included in the following table. Partial JAst of Rabbit Drives in Oregon. Locality. Date. Rabbits killed. Authority. Lake County. Dec. 18, 1894 Dec. 20, 1894 Dee. 22, 1894 Dec. 24. 1894 1,654 1,767 685 826 C.U. Snider, Lakeview Do. Do. Do Orcg. Do Do Do Do Dec. 27, 1894 1.592 Do. Do Dec. 30, 1894 300 Do. Do Jan. 3, 1895 973 Do. Do Jan. 6,189r. 1, 975 Do. Do Jau. 10,1895 1,146 Do. Do Jan. 17, 1895 304 Do. Do Jan. 20,1895 200 Do. Do Jan. 24, 1895 280 Do. Do Otlior drives 500 Do. Total n2 drives) 12, 202 Average 1,016 60 JACK RABBITS OF THE UNITED STATES. KABBIT HUNTS. It may be of iuterest to consider the methods of destruction which have been used in other States. Two of the jack rabbits which occur in CaHfornia {Lepus texianus and L. campesfris) are common also in Utah, Idaho, and Colorado, and in some sections are excessively abun- dant. An entirely different method of extermination, however, is prac- ticed from that adopted in California. Large numbers are killed with shotguns in regularly organized hunts, but rabbit drives, properly speaking, are now rarely made, except in Idaho. UTAH. According to Mr. M, Eichards, jr., of Parowan, Utah, the club was formerly used in some of the rabbit hunts on the brush lands bordering Little Salt Lake, and as many as 2,000 rabbits have been killed iij a drive, but this method has now been abandoned and shooting has been adopted instead. Eabbit hunts have taken place since the earliest settlement of the State — nearly half a century ago — but when they were first held by the Indians is unknown. The Piutes, Coshutes, and Pahvan Indians were accustomed to resort to a large valley near Cedar City during the month of Kovember, for the i)urpose of having a grand hunt, and thou- sands of rabbits were annually slaughtered.' Strangely enough, the first hunt among the whites of which we have any record probably occurred very near this place, and was participated in by a party of emigrants on their way from Salt Lake City to California in 1840. It was a portion of the same company which soon after experienced such hardships on the desert, and on account of whose sufferings the now celebrated Death Valley in California received its name. This early rabbit hunt probably took place in the month of October, 1849, some- where in the region north of Little Salt Lake, either in Iron or Beaver County. Mr. W. L. Manly.^ one of the members of the party, describes the hunt as follows : "We came into a long, narrow valley well covered with sage brush, and before we liad gone very far we discovered that this was a great place for long-eared rabbits — we would call them jack rabbits now. Ev^eryone who had a gun put it into service on this occasion, and there was much jiopping and shooting on every side. Great clouds of smoke rolled up as the hunters advanced, and the rabbits ran in every direc- tion to get away. Many ran right among the horses, and under the feet of the cattle and under the wagons, so that tlie teamsters even killed some with a Avhij). At the end of the valley we went into camp, and on counting u]) the game found we had over 500, or about one for every person in camp." 1 Coues & Yarrow, Kept. Geog. Surv. W. 100th Merid., V, Zool., 1875, p. 127. 2 Death Valley in '49, 1894, pp. 110-111. RABBIT HUNTS IN UTAH. 61 Mr. James L, Bniitiiijif, of Kaiiab, writes that betweeu 1858 and 1870 rabbits were very abundant on the land betweeu the Jordan Kiver aud Great Salt Lake. In November and December hunters wouhl go out almost daily in parties of from four to six each, and ou some occasions as many as ."iOO rabbits were killed in a single day. The hunts usually take place in the winter or early spring- when the snow is on the ground, and are thus described by W. G. isowers in a letter dated February, 1887. He says : "Our mode of destroying these pests is to select two cai)tains, who choose their associates from the community, aud form two attacking parties, who ride or go with firearms, dogs, clubs, and so ou, and lay siege to every rabbit caught sight of. In some instances the slaughter has amounted to nearly 1,000 for each side. These raids are waged ou every favorable opportunity — after a snowstorm, or monthly, if no snow falls, as has been the case this winter. " Eabbit hunts have occurred in a number of i)laces in southwestern Utah, but are less common in the northern part of the State. One, how- ever, took place near Corinne during the summer of 1804. According to Prof. Marcus E. Jones, as many as a dozen or fifteen hunts have occurred annually during recent years. One of the largest is described by Mr. Vernon Bailey as having taken place near Panguitch, Garfield County, in 1885. Tt lasted three days, and some 80 men and boys took part, killing more than 5,000 rabbits within a few miles of tlie town. As will be seen from the following table, the recent Utah hunts are small in comparison with those in Colorado or the California drives. Vurtial List of Jiabbit Ilunis in Utah. Locality. Date. Rabbitis killed. Authority. Beaver County. Bcavor Dec., 1886 5 000 Orson Aired, Beaver. Do Do 1894 1,600 2,300 2,000-3,000 1,500-2,000 300 400 Do Feb., 1895 Do Miiiersvillc* July. 1887 Do Dec., 1887, or Jan., 1888. Summer 1894 Do Jioxelder County . t Corinne Editor Bugler. Br»ghani City. Kelton 1,000 5 522 Garfield County. Panguitch 1885 David W. Montague, Panguitch. W. L. Manlv, 'Death Valley in 49 ', 110. Will f TTio-trino r'uH.ii- r'it-.r Iron County.\ Near Littl." Salt Lake ? Cedar CI tv Oct. (?), 1849 Feb. 24,1894- Dec.21, 1893 Jan.28-Feb.2,1895. Feb. 11-14, 1895.... Spring 1875 Spring 1885 Jan 18 18')4 ,500 527 Kanarraville 172 ""ij--"'— — •'• Do Piira};oiiali 169 ( Iron County Record Feb. 8, 1S95. 600 Iron County Record Feb. 15, 1895. 2,000 M.Richard's, jr., Parowau. (Drive). 1 800 Do I'arowan Do Do 70fi Will O VTifrrri-na r'o.ToT- I'^itT- Do Jan 31 1894 337 Do " Summit Jan. 20-26, 1895 ; 1, 290 i Iran County Kecord Feb. 1, 1895. *Measrs. Dotson &. Son report that 21,000-22,000 rahbit.s were killed in two months in 1887 and l.<88. t A number of liunts sceui to have ociurred near I'.riuliaiii ("ity and elsewhere, whicli are necessarily omitted hero in the absence of suthcieut data. The county \>aid bounties ou 12,758 rabbits duriui; the years 1893, 1894. and 18',I5— see p. 43. ;Mr. M. Riihards, jr., of Parowan gives 9,000 as the probable number of rabbits killed in thia county during 1894. 62 JACK KABBITS OF THE UNITED STATES. Partial lists of Babbit Hunts in Utah — Contiuued. Locality. Date. Millard County. Corn Creek i Mar. 27, 1894 Kanosh ' Jan.—, 1893 Do I Jan. (19?), 1894... Sanpete County. \ Mount rieasant \ Dec.30,1894 to Jan. 12, 1895. Wayne County. Loa ' Dec. 14, 1894 Central Utah , Dec. 3, 1893 , Do Nov.29,1894 Do Dec. 8, 1894 Total (26 hunts) Eabbits killed. 50-60 1,800 1,000 Authority. Marcus E. Jones, Salt Lake City. Jiiniea A. George, Kanosh. Do. 1,000 Several hunts. Postmaster. 350 2,762 1,379 056 37,215 John T. Lazenby, Loa. John L. May, Salt Lake City. Do. Do. IDAHO. A few large bunts have recently occurred in southern Idaho, but greater success has attended the introduction of the rabbit drive. A novel method is sometimes employed in Fremont County, the rabbits being baited by spreading a line of hay on the snow or on the ground, and after they are ' lined up ' several can be killed at a single shot. Mr. T. T. Eutledge, assistant director of the experiment station at Nampa, Canyon County, reports that a small hunt took place about September 1894, near that place, but the number killed is unknown. In the winter of 1894-95 about 2,600 jack rabbits were killed near Idaho Falls, Bingham County, and shipped to Eustice, Nebr., along with grain and provisions for distribution among the drought sufferers in that State. Another smaller hunt also occurred at Idaho Falls later on. While these pages are passing through the press, reports have been received indicating that rabbit driving is being successfully carried on in the southern part of the State. At Marion, Cassia County, about 5,000 rabbits were killed in a drive on December 9, 1895. It was esti- mated that 500 people were present and that an area of country less than 3 miles square was driven over; 4,000 more rabbits were killed at the same place during the following week. Farther east two smaller drives were held at INIarket Lake, Fremont County. In this case no corrals were built, the rabbits being simply driven into the railroad stock yards and afterwards shipped to Salt Lake City for distribution among the poor. The following list has been brought down to date as far as possible and includes five drives which occurred early in January, 189(5: Partial List of Idaho Habbit Brieves and Hunts. Locality. Idaho Falls. Do Binghain County. Nampa. Canyon County. Date. Winter 1894- 95. do Sept.— ,1894 Kabbits killed. 2, 600 Authority. A. V. Scott, Idaho Falls. Do. T. T. Ilutlcdgo, Nampa. RABBIT HUNTS IN COLORADO. 63 Partial List of Idaho llahhit Drives and Runts — Continued. Locality. Date. Eabbits killed. Autliority. Cassia County. Dec. 7,1895 Dec. 9, 1895 Dec. 14,1895 Dec. 31,1895 Jan. 3, 189(i Jau. 4, 1896 Feb. 1, 1895 Feb. 7, 1895 Feb. 14,1895 Feb, 20,1895 Jiju. 9, 1890 Dec. 30,1895 Jan. 4, lH9(i Winter 1894- 95 Jan." 11,1896 5,000 2,000 2, 000 1,200 150 1,600 247 450 509 739 990 1,044 1,000 2,000 300 C. A. Tolman, Marion. Do Do. Do Do. Do 1)0. Do Do. Do Do. Grant t Fremont County. Eli McEntire, Grant. Do Do. Do Do. Do Do. Tjftwisvillf* . . . ................ Ed ElLswordi, Lewisville. Do. Do Do. Kiebv E. P. Coltnian, Idaho Falls. Do * Ed Ellsworth, Lewisville. * Drives. t Hunts hiive been reported from I^ewisville for February 14 and 26 (?), 1895. which are probably the same as those given in this list. Graut, Lfwi.svillc, and Kigby are all witliiu a lew miles of one another; the same hunt may be rei)orted Irom dillerenl places .ind thus lead to confiisiou, particularly if no dates are giveu. COLORADO. During tbe last three years a scries of rabbit hunts have taken place in eastern Colorado, resulting in the destruction of nearly 20,000 rabbits. As is the case with the hunts in Utah, no inclosures are built and shotguns are the only weapons used. The hunters are usually dis- tributed over the ranches iu the neighborhood and hunt singly or in small parties. The success of these hunts has led to the celebration each winter of a ' Eabbit Day,' which is set apart for the destruction of the pests. In reply to an inquiry concerning the origin of the cus- tom at Lamar, Mr. J . T. Lawless, (editor of the Lamar Sparks, wrote on March 4, 1895: This portion of Colorado was first settled in 1886, and in 1889 farming l)y irrigation was begun on an extensive scale. Tbe territory nnder dii;cb is abont 18 miles wide. North and south of this striji of irrigated land there is little vegetation, and the land is valuable chielly as a stock range. After the first year of farming by irrigation, rabbits increased rapidly, and the farmers were greatly annoj^ed. The rabbits came from the rainbelt region for miles around and made their headquarters in the alfalfa and grain fields and the growing orchards of Prowers County. * * * The great increase in the number of rabbits caused much concern, and linally a big hunt was arranged to reduce their numbers. This hunt was confined to people of Lamar and the county. About fifty-five men ])articipated, and thoy killed over 1,201) rabbits in one day. The ftdlowiug winter another liutit was arranged on similar lines, and the same number of men lirought in about 2,000 rabbits. This hunt was followed by the first annual hunt, in which gitnners from all parts of the State participated. That was the inauguration of Rabbit Day. Over 1,000 rabbits wore killed, and these were drawn and shipped to Denv(>r and Pueblo for distribution among the poor, to whom the meat was very acceptable. One of the largest and most successful hunts was that of December 22, 189-4, in which 101 gunners took ])art and secured 5,142 rabbits as the result of a day and a half of steady work (see Plate VI). When dressed, these jack rabbits usually average about 6A pounds each, and 64 JACK BABBITS OF THE UNITED STATES. it was estimated tLat tlie game obtained in this hunt weighed nearly 5 tons. The annual hunt on December 19-20, 1895, was less successful, owing to a severe storm and deep snow; only about 1,600 rabbits were killed. A unique feature of the Colorado hunts is the disposition of the game, which is distributed among the poor of Denver and Pueblo. The rab- bits are transported free of charge by the railroads and distributed mainly under the direction of Rev. Thos. A. Uzzell, of Denver. This charitable work was begun about four years ago, and 250 jack rabbits were received the first winter; last season 4,500 were distributed in Denver alone, and it is said that over 5,000 have been given away each season for the last three years. In fact the success of the hunts at Lamar in December, 1893, January and December, 1894, was largely due to the efforts of Rev. Thos. A. Uzzell, who arranged for the ship- ment and distribution of the rabbits. List of Colorado llahhit Hants.'^ Ldcalitj'. Brnsh, Morgan County., Lamar, Prower.s County Do '. Do Do Do Date. Jlal)bit.s killed. Dec. 28,1894 Jan. 6,1893 Der, 22,1893 i Jan. —,1894 Jan. 12-13, 1894. Nov. 25-26, 1894. Do Dec. 22.1894 Do Dec. 19-20, I 1895. Las Animas, Bent County Feb. 22, 1893 Do Feb. 22, 1894 Do Feb. 6-7, 1895 Total (11 hunts) 700 1,194 1,799 3,029 4,500 1,500 5,142 1,600 815 1,865 6,522 A uthority. 28, 666 Lamar Sparks, Jan. 3, 1895. A. Van Deusen, Lamar. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Lamar Sparks, Dec. 26, 1895. M. U. McCauley, Las Animas. Do. Jacob Weil and M. K. McCauley. * For descriptions of the liunts of Decemlier, 1893, and January, 1894, see Shooting and Fisliing, Vol. XV, Jauuary 4, 1894, p. 221, February 1. 1894, p. 303, and American Field, Vol. XLI, March 10, 1894, p. 222. For annual bunt of Doc. 19-20, 1895, see Shooting and Fishing, Vol. XIX. Jan. 2, 1896, p. 225. SUMMARY. A comparison of the foregoing tables will show that California has accomi)lished much more in the way of rabbit destruction than Colo- rado, Idaho, Oregon, or Utah, notwithstanding the fact that hunts have been held in Utah for nearly half a century. Rabbit driving is now on the decline in California, but the number of hunts is rapidly increas- ing in the other States. The results may be tabulated as follows : General Summary of 220 Jack Rabhit Drives and Hunts in the West. California, 1875-1895. Oregon, 1894-95. Utah, 1849-1895. Idaho. 1894-96. Colorado, 1893-95. Total. J^wmhPiY drives *155 370, 195 2,387 20, 000 *12 12, 202 1,016 2,000 J 26 37, 215 1,431 5,500 + 16 21,829 1,364 5,000 til 28, 666 2, 606 6, 500 220 Total number rabbits killed 470, 107 2,137 Ijarffp.^t drive.s * Drives. t Hunts. } Both drives and hunts. CHAPTEE VI. VALUE OF THE JACK RABBIT. The question may well be asked whether the jack rabbit has any value or can be utilized in any way. In 1800 the Eoyal Commission of New South Wales sugg^ested that '' rabbits may be used for food, either fresh, frozen, canned, jerked, or as soup; for their skins and fur in the manufacture of gloves and felt; for extracting glue and oil; and for reduction to manure.'" Xevertheless they discouraged the principle of commercial utilization on the ground that it would lead to the pres- ervation of the rabbits instead of their destruction. But after many experiments with poisons, diseases, traps, and other methods of destruc- tion, and an outlay of millions of dollars for fences, this very method has recently been advocated as the most promising, by the Hon. J. H. Carrnthers, Minister for Lands in New South Wales. In his opening' address to the rabbit conference, held at Sydney on April 2, 1895, he said : One feature of the rabbit question has not, it is thonglit, received sufilicient atten- tion at the hands of the snfferers in this eolony, and that is the coraniercial utilization of the aninniL In the past suggestions of tliis character have met with condeni- nntiou on the ground tliat it wonhl lead to the conservation of the rabbit, but if would ai)p<'ar that tlie lime for such argninent has disappeared. Experience in tlie past leads to the belief that the rabbit is a fixture, and there should be no reason why persons resident in localities suitable for the purpose should not seriously con- sider why the animal should not be nuide to contribute to the cost of its own destruction. It is, of course, apparent that operations of this character would only be possible over a limited area of the infested country; but with the easy means of reaching foreign markets, it is worthy of consideration whether the carcass of the rabbit may not be used as an article of food, either frozen or canned, and whether the skins and fur may not be profitably applied in the manufacture of gloves and felf.-' In this country, however, the larger hares have been used in only a few of the ways suggested by the Royal Commission of New South Wales, viz, (1) for sport, especially in coursing, (2) for their skins, and (3) for food. The pursuit of the jack rabbit furnishes excellent sport with the shotgun or rifle as well as to the mounted rider eager for a trial of speed with hounds. It is often a difficult matter to get a shot if the rabbit ha])pens to be somewhat wary, but on the other hand, if the game is abundant and not too shy, large numbers may be readily killed. ' Final Rept. Royal Com. Inquiry Exterm. Rabbits, Australasia, 1890. p. 4. -Rept. Proceedings Conference Rabbit Pest, New South Wales. Sydnev. 1895, v. 7. 8(>15— No. 8 5 ' 65 ' QQ JACK RABBITS OF THE UNITED STATES. In one of the large Colorado hunts, which are conducted mainly for sport, two men shooting together at Lamar, in December 1894, secured 412 rabbits in two days. For the rifle, a jack rabbit on the run makes a fine target, and one requiring skill and steadiness to hit. Hunting on horseback with shotguns is considered much more exciting than on foot and requires considerable skill in riding as well as in shooting. Hunting the jack rabbit with hounds, however, is a form of sport which seems to be increasing in popular favor, notwithstanding the fact that it is considered cruel by some. COURSING. The adaptability of the large hares for coursing has long been recog- nized. They are certainly superior in speed to any of the smaller rabbits, but whether they are better than the Old World Hare is still an open question. Thus far the evidence seems to be in favor of the jack. Says Van Dyke^ in speaking of coursing in California: A dasli after the liare on a good horse and behind good dogs is one of the most charming of outings. The horse enjoys the sport as well as the dogs do, and tries his best to outrun the procession. The ground flies beneath you, the surrounding mountains swim in a haze, the whole amphitheater seems to turn around while you are standing still. Vainly the hare twists and sends the dogs spinning ahead in confusion, while he scuds away on his new tack without the loss of an instant, so far as you can see. All ordinary dogs fall out of the race. Even the wirj' and swift coyote, though he loves hare more than anything else, rarely if ever feels hungry enough for a stern chase. Biit if the greyhounds are good and tbe brush not too near, the hare's doubling only postpones his end, however untiring his foot, or fre(i[uent his twists. Vainly he lays his ears flatter upon his neck and lets out another link of his reserved speed. Before he has made many turns he is caught — perhaps in mid-air — and the dogs and hare go rolling over in a heap together. Coursing began in California in the early sixties, and has since been carried on with more or less spirit by various clubs. About twenty years ago the old Los Angeles Coursing Club used to follow the jack rabbits with greyhounds on the mesa near Pasadena, and women as well as men took part in the sport.^ In 1872 the Pioneer Coursing Club of San Francisco held the first of a series of meetings at Merced. Since 1890 the meetings of the Interstate Coursing Club have been held at this jjlace, wliich has become one of the principal coursing centers on the Pacific Coast. Other meetings have been held at Newark, Sau Francisco, and near Los Angeles. The American Coursing Club was the first club east of the Kocky Mountains to use jack rabbits, and in October, 1880, inaugurated a series of annual meetings which were continued up to 1892 on the Cheyenne bottoms, near Great Bend, Kans. In 1894 and 1895 the club met at Huron, S. Dak. The National Coursing Association, of Hutch- inson, Kans., was organized in 1888, with a capital stock of $50,000, and iThe Land of Sunshine, Los Angeles, Cal., Ill, Aug. 1895, pp. 116-117. 2 Forest and Stream, XXVIII, Jan. 27, 1887, p. 3. COURSING. 67 flonrisliod for two or three years. Its object was to develop coursing in the United states, by breeding- rabbits on their own soil and shipping them to various parts of the country in order that meetings niiglit be held in the large cities and a more general interest aroused.' The association had 320 acres at Hutchinson inclosed with a wire mesh fence, and imported Jack rabbits from California, New Mexico, and Wyoming and turned them loose iii this park where in a few months a large number were collected. 'Inclosed coursing,' i. e. running the rabbits in an inclosure instead of on the open plain, was introduced at the meeting, held on October 23, 1888. A track half a mile long and 75 yards wide was arranged inside the park. The rabbits were started at one end of the track and at the other were allowed to escape from the hounds, through snuill openings, into a pen, where they were caught for use in another race.'- The National Coursing Association held meetings in 1889 at St. Louis, Mo., and Louisville, Ky., and fifty Jack rabbits were sliipi)ed fiom the park at Hutchinson to be used in the latter meeting. In 181)0 it held a series of meetings at St. Louis, Kan- sas City, and St. Joseph, Mo.; Colorado Springs and Denver, Colo.; Omaha and Lincoln, Nebr., and Council Bluff's, Iowa. Coursing has received a wonderful impetus in the West during the last ten years largely through the work of these two clubs, the Inter- state Coursing Club of Merced, Cal., and the Occidental Club of .Newark, Cal. Since 1890 numerous local clubs have been organized in Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, Colorado, and southern California, and no small number of rabbits are required annually for these meetings. The demand for rabbits for this sport seems to have been largely instrumental in bringing about the rabbit drives in California, and as many as a thousand or more have been obtained in one of the large drives. Nearly all the rabbits for coursing in this State come from the San Joaquin Valley. Some of them are caught near Goshen, where they are shipped in coops, containing 21 single stalls arranged in two rows. From 50 to 100 are sometimes required for a single meeting, and the wholesale inice varies from $5.50 to $9 per dozen. At Wichita, Kans., and Merced, Cal., several persons regularly trap rabbits for coursing. At Wichita, Mr. Chas. Payne captures jack rab- bits by means of a net about a mile in length, made of common cotton seine twine, which is stretched straight across a lield. On one side are attached short nets at an angle with the main net, forming a number of Vs. The rabbits are driven toward the trap by (> to 10 men on horse- back, and 10 to 20 rabbits are considered a good catch for one day. Shipping boxes are so arranged that each animal is in a separate com- partment, and the largest hold about a dozen rabbits. Some of these I Am. Field, XXX, Nov. 24, 1888, p. 504. ^See illustrated .article ou ''Jack Rabbits and Inclosed Coursing," by M. E. Aljjsou^ ji^ Am. Field, XXXIII, Apr. 26, 1890, pp. 395-396. 68 JACK RABBITS OF THE UNITED STATES. jack rabbits bring $2 apiece, and they have been shipped to various jioints in the United States and Canada, and even to England. Last winter (1804:-9r)), between UOO and 300 were furnished to the St. Louis Coursing Asvsociation alone. SKINS. Kabbit skins are used in greater quantities than those of any other animals except the true fur-bearing mammals. At present skins of jack rabbits have little commercial value, and no attempt appears to be made to utilize them on a large scale. It seems strange that where the animals are slaughtered in such numbers the skins are not made to yield a fair profit, as is done with those of other species. Their use for fur seems to be restricted mainly to the Indians. The Piutes and other tribes of the Great Basin formerly relied to a considerable extent on the rabbit for furnishing their scanty snpi)ly of clothing, and in Idaho, Xevada, and Utah killed large numbers of jack rabbits for this purpose. Says Bancroft in speaking of the Indians of this region: "On the barren plains of Nevada, where theie is no large game, the rabbit fur- nishes the only clothing. The skins are sewn together in the form of a cloak, which is thrown over the shoulders, or tied about the body with thongs of the same. In warm weather, or- when they can not obtain rabbit skins, men, women, and children are, for the most part, in a state of nudity." (isative Eaces of the Pacific States, I, 1874, pp. 423-424.) Mr. Vernon Bailey, chief field naturalist of the division, who has traveled extensively in this region and seen the robes in use among the Indians, has kindly contributed the following notes: A but the Indians seem reluctant to ])art with them. One old Mohave upon being asked to sell his robe, refused, saying: " Me no make 'em. Hualapai make 'em, me buy 'em." Jack rabbits were doubtless used also by the Indians of California, although to a less extent. The Miwok, a tribe whose territorry extended from the crest of the Sierra Nevada to the San Joaquin Kiver, anse li<;ur<-s as some of the skins from New Ze;ihind ;inil 't;isniaiiiii were sbipjicd to otlicr colonies, iiarlicnlarly Victoria, and snch skins may have been i-eexportcd ; e. i;., the direct cx))orls from 'I'jisniiinia to Kvinipc fioiii 1880 to 1892 formed a very small percentage of the total exports, the bulk of the skins being shipped to Victoria. JACK RABBITS AS GAME. 71 ])ro(lu('ing 75 pounds of cut fur. li' all the machines were kept run- ning foi- two hundred and fifty days per annum they would require 48,000,000 rabbit and hare skins. The output of fur would be about 3,000,000 pounds, wlii(!h, valued at 85 cents per pound, would . campestris) 74 JACK RABBITS OF THE UNITED STATES. is sold in even greater numbers in Eastern cities, and the bulk of the supply probably comes from the Dakotas, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Iowa. In Newcastle, Wyo., a single hunter killed over 100 Prairie Hares for market during the season of 1803-94. One dealer in Pier- point, Day County, S. Dak., reports that he has shipped from 1,200 to 1,500 per annum for the last three years, and a correspondent in Water- town, S. Dak., writes that probably 50,000 rabbits were killed in Cod- ington County, S. Dak., last season, although not all were used for food. Tlie severe winter following the drought of 1891 resulted in the destruction of larger numbers than usual, and no doubt many persons in Dakota and Nebraska gladly availed themselves of this source of supply. As already stated, part of the game in California is secured by means of rabbit drives. In eastern Colorado large (quantities are killed during the annual hunts at Lamar and Las Animas, but as the rabbits are killed for sport, and not especially for market, many of them are donated to the poor of Denver and Pueblo. In Kansas large numbers of jack rabbits are killed after heavy snowfalls, and in Chautauqua and Montgomery counties it is said that the farmers sometimes bring them in by the wagon load; the hunters usually receive about 10 cents apiece for them. Near McPherson one method of hunting is to stretch a wire between two wagons about 200 yards apart, and allow it to drag in the grass or stubble as they proceed. As the rabbits are started they are shot from the wagons or by two hunters wlio follow behind. In this vicinity the j)rices vary from 15 cents apiece in October, down to 5- cents in January. Jack rabbits are shii)ped to market either by express or freight. At Goshen, Cal., they are cleaned and hung up over night to cool off, and are then simply placed in barley sacks (each holding from 25 to 30), and sent by express. Kansas shippers usually forward the game by ordinary freight during cold weather, but at other times in refrigerator cars. Some pack the rabbits without ice in boxes holding from 2i to 3 dozen each ; others wra|) the game in paper or excelsior and pack it in barrels containing 4 or 5 dozen rabbits. Another method is simply to cord them uj) in refrigerator cars, thus saving the cost of packages and packing. • THE MARKET. Jack rabbits usually bring from 75 cents to $3 per dozen, depending on the demand and the expense of shipping. In some cases they are sold at a much higher figure. During the winter of 1890 some black- tailed jack rabbits were sold at retail in the New York market at $1.50 per pair,' and in December 1895, a few Prairie Hares were retailed in the Washington market at $1 apiece. 'Mearns, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., II, Feb., 1890, p. 298, footnote. MARKETS AND PRICES. 75 The following- table shows the ordinary market prices in some of the larger cities for the season of 1894-95 : Market Prices of Jack liabbita, 1S94-95.* City. San Francisco, Cal. Denver, Colo Chicago, 111 New Orleans, La. . . St. Paul, Minn St. Loni.i, Mo Boston, Mass Date. Oct. 20, 1894 Oct. 27-Nov. 24, 1894 , .Ian. 12, 1895 Feb. 9, 1895 Price i)(!ri)air. Dec. 1, 1894 Dec. 15, 1894 Feb. 23-Mar. 2, 1895. Price per dozen. $0.50-$1.00 . 75- 1. 00 .75- 1.00 1.00 Average price per dozen dur- ing season. ^0. 67-$l. 00 2. 00- 3. 50 1.50- 2.00 1.75- 2.50 1.25- 1.75- 2.50 2.66 S 1 New York, X.T 5 J,in. 26-Feb. 2, 1895. Dec. 22, 1894 Dec. 29, 1894. Washington, D. C Jan. 26-reb. 2, 1895. 0. 25-$0. 50 . 40- . 60 .40- .55 3.00 50- 00- 1.75- 1.50- 2.40- 50 75 00 25 00 45 00 *Ketnrns for Boston, New York, and Chicago are taken from the market review in the American Agriculturist, Vols. LIV and JjV ; fur San Francisco, from the Pacific Iviiinl Press, Vols. XLVIII and XLIX; figures lor St. Louis havi^ been kindly turnished by the St. Louis Poultry and Game Company; for St. Paul, by K. E. Cobb; for New Orleans, by Messrs. U. &- S. Blum, and I'ur Dcaver, \)y H. 0. Hunger ifc Co. As mig'ht naturally be supposed, some of the largest markets for jack rabbits are in the cities of California where the game is sold at a lower price than elsewhere. San Francisco probably uses more than any other single city in the United States, and it is said that this game is received during the winter months at the rate of 100 to 150 dozen per day. An estimate obtained by the board of trade from the com- mission merchants places the total number consumed per annum at about 06,000. The game is sup])lied principally by the counties of Fresno, ]\Ierced, and Tulare, in the San Joa(]uiii N'alley. Los Angeles is supplied by the southern counties of Los Angeles, Orange, River- side, San Bernardino, and San Diego. The number sold as estimated by the Chamber of Commerce, averages from 12 to 15 dozen per week the year round, or approximately 7,500 to 9,200 i)er annum, most of which is received during the winter months. An estimate furnished by the Chamber of Commerce places the num- ber of Jack rabbits sold in Salt Lake City, Utah, during the winter of 1891-95 at 10,000 to 15,000. Many more were given away, and the sec- retary, Mr. E. F. Colburn, explains that ])erhaps more were consumed than usual, owing to the fact that the rabbits were slaughtered in large numbers in regular hunts and were donated to the poor. In Denver, Colo., large numbers of Jat^k rabbits are donated to the i>oor, but many are also sold as game. One commission house reports that for the last ten years they have handled from 13,000 to 15,000 each season, although large (juautities are rarely found in market at any one time. The game comes from the eastern i>art of the State and from western Nebraska and Kansas. Omaha, Nebr., is supplied by the western part of the 76 JACK RABBITS OF THE UNITED STATES. State and by Wyoming, largely from the region between the Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley and the Burlington and Missouri Eiver railroads. No reliable statistics of the number consumed in Kansas City, Mo., are at hand, the estimates ranging from a few hundred dozen up to about 75,000. Texas probably furnishes most of the rabbits sold in the markets of its principal towns as well as some of those in New Orleans. Only a limited number of 'Jacks' are used in New Orleans — probably not more than 25 per cent of the total number of rabbits sold — and these are shipped mainly from points along the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis Eailroad. Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., receive their main shipments from North and South Dakota and Minnesota. It is reported that 12,000 jack rabbits (1,000 dozen) were handled by a single commission house in St. Paul during last winter, probably nine-tenths of which were obtained from the Dakotas, the remainder being received from Minnesota and Iowa. Estimates of the number of jack rabbits sold in the markets of some of the cities west of the Mississi])pi River have been obtained from boards of trade, chambers of commerce, or reliable commission mer- chants, and are shown in the following table. Such figures are only approximate, but in most cases are based on the sales of the season of 1801-05 : Estimates of Jack Eahhits sold in IVcstern Cities. City. Number of rabbits. Authority. 7, 500-9, 200 96, 000 30, 000 1, 000 2,500 25, 000 - 12, 000 1 25, 000 35, 000 60, 000 10, 000-15, 000 Chamber of Commerce. Board of Trade. Den ver, Colo H. 0. Muntrer & Co. Pueblo, Colo Jno. M. Killin & Co. New Orleans, l^a Minneapolis, Minn Bennett & Co. Produce Exchange. St. Paul, Minn R. E. Cobb. Kansiis Citv, Mo St. Louis, Mo St. Louis Poultry iind (ianie Co. Poycke Bros. J. P. Wliite. Salt Lake Citv, Utah Handled by a single commission house. f A|i]iroxiiiiat<'. Most of the jack rabbits sold in Chicago, St. Louis, New York, Boston, Philadelpliia, Baltimore, and Washington seem to come from the Great Plains — from Kansas to North Dakota — but the attempt to secure accurate statistics from Eastern cities is almost hoi)eless, as quantities of the large Varying Hares {hepnn amcricanns) are also received and sold indiscriminately with jack rabbits under the name of hares. These data will give some idea of the extent to which jack rabbits are shii)ped to market. The total number sold in the cities men- tioned above is about 300,000. Allowing an equal number for local conbumplion in small towns and for those sold in other cities would 1 CONSUMPTION OF RABBITS IN AUSTRALIA. 77 give 000,000 as a very louj^li approximation of the total number con- sumed in tlie United States per annum. Estimated at the rate of 61.50 to $2 per dozen the total value would be about $75,000 or 8100,000. This, however, is only a small proportion of the total number of rabbits used as game, since cottontails are sold everywhere in much larger quantities. In connection with these figures it will be interesting to compare the number of rabbits sold in one of the large cities of Australia. Alel- bourne, the capital of Victoria, according to the census of 1891, had a ])0|tulation of 490, 800 — somewhat more than that of San Francisco, Cal. The following table from the Victorian Year Book for 1893 fVol. II, p.202) shows tlie number of rabbits sold in Melbourne duiing the seven years from 1880 to 1893: Number of Rabbits shipped to markets of Melbourne, Australia. Year. Number of conplesof rabbits — Sold. Con- deniued. Total. 18Hfl-87 . 1887-88 . 1S«S-8!I , 18H',l-. Mearns, E. A., Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., New York. II, Feb., 1890, pp. 294-304 (Lepiis alleni and L. meJanoiis). Waterhouse, G. R., Nat. Hist. Mamm., II, Rodentia, 1848. DISEASES, INOCULATION, AND PARASITES. Brandegee, Katherine, C.'pnurus of the Hare, Zoe, I, Nov., 1890, p. 265-268. Progress Rept. Roy. Comm. Inquiry Externi. Rabbits in Australasia, 1890, pp. 1.38- 215. Rept. to the Legislative Assembly of New South ^Yales on the Rabbit Pest, 1888, pp. 1-17. Thomas, A. P. W., Report on Rabbit Nuisance in Wairarapa District, New Zea- land, 1888, pp. 1-7; 1889, pp. -1-14. DRIVES AND HUNTS. [Editorial] Driving the Jack Rabbits, San Francisco Mining and Scientific Press, Jan. 28, 1888, p. 51 (Bakersfield, Cal.). Fremont, J. C, Kxpl. Exped. to Oregon and California, 1845, p. 227. Greene, C. S., Rabbit Driving in the San Joaquin Valley, Overland Monthly, XX, July, 1892, pp. 49-58 (Traver, Cal.). 80 ARTICLES ON RABBITS. 81 Manly. W. L., Death Valley in '49, ]t. 110 (near Little Salt Lake, I'tali). Sayers. K. H., A Jack Rabbit Hunt, Am. Field, XLl, No. 10, Mar. 10, 1894, p. 222 (^Laniar, Colo.). Scientific American, LXI, Nov. 19, 1889, p. 29.") (Wiklflower, Cal.). Shooting and Fishing, XV, 1894, pi.. 221, .303; XIX, .Ian. 2, 1896, p. 225 (Lamar, Colo.). Townscnd, C. IL, A .Jack Rabbit Drive, Forest and Stream, XXXVIII, Mar. 3. 1X92, p. 197 (nt^ar Fresno, Cal.). Townsend, .1. K., Narrative of a .(onrney Across the Rocky Mountains, 1839, p. 327. White, N. E., A California Rabbit Ronnd-up, Am. Field, XXX, Nov. 3, 1888, p. 410 (Bakersfield, Cal.) IIAIJITS. Cones, E., American Rabbits or Hares, Am. Sportsman, Aug. 29, 1874. Cones, E., Habits of the Prairie Mare, Bull. Essex Institute, VII (187.5), 187r). i.p. 73-85. Coues, E., Am. Naturalist, I, Dec, 1867, pp. 531-534 {Lepus texiantts). Van Dyke, T. S., Southern California, 1886, pp. 130-132. UAI5BITS IN' AUSTRALIA. Final Rept. Roy. Comm. Inquiry Exterm. Rabbits Australasia, 1890, pp. 1-20. Morgan, .). M., The Rabbit Pest in Victoria, U. S. Consular Repts., Vol. \X, No. 72. Dec, 1880. pp. 482-484. Progress Rept. Roy. Conuu. Inciuiiy Exterm. Rabbits Australasia, 1890, pp. 1-216. Rept. Comm. Legislative Council New South Wales on Rabbit Nuisance Act of 1883, 1887, pp. 1-46. Rept. Proc Confeieuce Rabbit Pest in Nevr South Wales. 1895, pp. 1-33. Wealth and Progress, New South Wales (Annual Volumes^. Yearltooks of Australia and of the separate Colonies. 8()li)— No. 8- 6 I N D p: X . Page. Abiiiulanre 24-2r) Adii (Jouiity, Idalio, bounty 41-42 Allfii'sJack Kabbit 22-23 Arizona Indian drives , 49 Australia, commercial utilization in 65, 70, 77 pxixMuliturcs 43^4 (IX port ol' skins 70 introduction of rabbits 43 legislation in 43-44 methods of destruction 37, 39 rabbit fences 43-44 Bibliograiihy 80-81 Black-tailed Jack Rabbit 19-21 Bladder worm 36 Bounties 40-43 California 10-41 Idaho 41-42 Oregon ■ 42 Texas 42 Utah 43 Breeding habits 25-29 Butte County, Cal., bounty 40, 41 Ccenurus 36, 72 California, abundance in 24-25 boTinties 40-41 coursing in 66-68 depredations 13, 32 drives, list of 55-57 epidemics 45-46 hunts by Indians 48 JackKabbit 17-19 nuirket s for rabbits 74-77 summary of drives .58 Canning rabbits 77-78 Capture of rabbits for ooursing 53, 67 Change of ))elage 14, 15 Chicken cholera 36 CofciiUtim ovi/orme 37 Colorado hunts 63-64 nuvrket s 64, 74 Colusa Co\inty, Cal., bounty 40 Commercial utilization of rabbits 37,65,70,77 Corrals for rabbit drives 4il, 50 County ordinances 41 Coursing 66-68 capture of rabbits for 53, 67 Coyote bounty law 45 Cuteri'brn 46, 72 Ci/Ktifercus pisi/ormis 37 Dei)rcdations 13, 30-32 llesert bare 19 Page. Diseases. (■S'^'e Epidemics.) Destruction of ral)bitsby cold 42 . by epidemics 45-46 Distribution 11,15,17,20,22 Dri ves, best time for 29, 59 California 47-59 early 52-53 history of 47-49, 52-54 Idaho 62-63 Indian 47-49 largest 54, 64 list of 55-57 nu'thod of conducting 47-52 objections to 59 ( )regon 59 origin of 47, .52-55 results of 57-59, 64 Enemies of rabbits 44-45 Epidemics 45-46 P^xpenditures in Australia for destruction of rabbits 43-44 Felt, nuule from rabbit skins 69 Fences, rabbit proof 33-34 for drives 19-50 in Australia 34, 43-44 substitute for 34 Food of rabbits 12-13 Fresno County, Cal., abundance in 32 bounty 40 drives 54, 55 Fur, rabbit skins for 69 Game 71-77 how killed and shipped 72-74 market for 74-78 General habits 11-13 Goshen rabbit drive club 49 (■irease for smearing trees 35 Hare, Desert 19 Prairie 14-17 Hunts, Colorado 63-64 Idaho 62-63 Indian 47-19 IT t ah 60-62 summary of 64 Idaho, bounties 41-42 depredations 31 drives 62-63 Indian methods of hunting 47-49 methods of jireparing skins 68-69 Injury to crojis 13, 30-32 inAustralia 32 83 84 INDEX. Page. Inoculation 36-37 Ixodes 71 Kansas, coursing in 06-68 sliipments from 73 Lake County, Oreg., bounty 42 (1 rives ; 59 Lascelles' i)rocoss of prepariugphospliorus. 39 Lejms alli'ni 22-23 americanus 69 calif ornicus 17-19, 72 ca irqjextris 14-17, 72-74 cuniculus 25, 43, 72 melanotic 21-22, 74 texianus. 19-21 texianus eremicun 19 timidus 25, 72 Market for jack rabbits 74-76 in Australia 77 prices 75 shipment to 73 Methods of destruction : Australian 37-38 bounties 40-43 drives 47-52 bunts 47, 48, 60-64 inoculation 36-37 poison 38-39 Modoc County, Cal., abundance in 24 bounty 40 drives 54, 56 New South "Wales, expenditures in 43-44 reward offered by Government 36 New Zealand, expenditures in 44 export of skins 70 Oregon, bounties 42 drives 48, 59 Parasites 71-72 Phosphorus 39 Summary and conclusions 78-79 Poison, danger of using 38 I»bospliorua 39 strychnine 38-39 Potash for smearing trees 35 Prairie Hare 14-17 Protection of orchards 32-35 by fences 32-34 by smears 34-35 Quassia for smearing trees 35 Queensland, expenditures in 43,44 Enbbit day in Colorado 63 Kabbii measles 37 scab 36, 37 Page. Keward offered by New South Wales for destruction of rabbits 36 San Bernardino County, Cal., bounty 40 San Joaquin Valley, Cal., abundance of rabbits in 20-21.24,32 drives 47, 49-54 shipments from 67, 73 Skins, exported from Australia 70 consumption of, in United States 69, 71 imjiorted by England 70 uses of 69 Smears 34-35 South Australia, expenditures in 44 ' export of skins 70 Species found in United .States 13-14 Allen's Hare 14,22-23 Black-eared Jack 14, 21-22 Black-tailed Jack Kabbit 14, 19-21 California Jack Ra bbit 17-19 Eastern Jackass Hare 14. 21-22 Prairie Hare 14-17 Texan Jack Rabbit 14. 19-21 White-tailed Jack Rabbit 14-17 Strychnine 38-39 Tonnia xerialis 72 Tapeworms in rabbits 72 Tasmania, expenditures in 43, 44 exj)ort of skins 70 Texas, bounties 42 depredations in ---.-.- 30-31 Ticks 71 Tintinallogy disease 36-37 Tree protectors .* 34 Trichinosis .". 72 Tulare County, Cal., bounties 41 drives 49-50, 53, 56-57 injury to crops 32' Utah, bounties 43 hunts 60-62 depredations in 31 Value of jack rabbits 65-77 VaryingHare,export()f skins I'rom America Oil Victoria, canning rabbits iu 78 dei)redations 32 expenditures in -13,44 export of skins. 70 introduction of rabbits 43 Warbles in rabbits 46, 72 Washington, dejiredatious in 31 Voiiug, number of 26-27 time of birth 27-29 ^t ;^' ,*<. // J J' y '^^^^0^