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11)10.
11
The Jack Rabbit Situation
in the Western States
(My It. A. WAItl, L S. MIoIokImI A-sMnnt.)
children, livestock nnd Irresponsible
persons. Community poison corrals
cation lias proven a failure
.. .i.-M li nn i roiitnhln way of 'should lie erected on thosfe plncos
a wiiv "T.
Since the arrival of farmers In tho numbers and have been on the In
Went, tnnk rnlililtu Imvn nhnu'ii n Lrrnnt rrpnM per since
fondness for nil crowlni? crops. At I'siihII l)n jack rabbit become
times thoy have become exceedingly
abundant In Texas, Colorado, Utah,
Idaho, Novadn, California and Ore
gon, During tlicso periods of abun
danco the damngo rabbits do to agrl
culture Is onormoim and In somo lo
calities has resulted In the entlro de
struction of crops, During the past
three winters rabbit Investigations
for the IllciloKlcul Survef of the De
partment of Agriculture, I have wit
nessed tho complete devastation of
crops and forage plants In puttlons
of four of our western states namel),
jiI.'Uio, California, Nevada and Ore
gon. The oxtcnt of this damage would
scorn unbelievable to those not fa
miliar with existing conditions. With
In a ten mile radius of one small Ida
ho town during the year of 19? 3 over
$r,0,000 worth of crops, most of It
orchard stock, was destroyed by rab
bits, Ono man cntrncted his nur
sery stock for $5000 onlj to los',
every troo by rabbit damage. An
other orchard lost n arras of four
year old apples trct-s and 10 acres
of pear trees. The owner1, estlmato
of this loss was $2.", 000. Numerous
Hlmllar canon could be cited and Is
worthy of nolo that most of the or
nhnrds that milTered severe losses
wore fenced with "rabbit proof"
fonco. Drifted snow and defective
workmanship on tho fi-nres admitted
the rabbits In large numbers. In
tho dry fnrmlng sections I tmo seen
homesteaders who have lost all crops
three yenrs In succession. One of
tho most sevoro cases of completo
devastation by Jack rabbits Is In tho
Stato of Oregon. I visited a Miiull
volley In a neighboring county whero l
after a careful examination o the
range, I found tho bunch gr.isn en
tliely gono and the Migo .irusu ti!,i
jio I ot fn'lago to tho tics, l'rr.cti..
nlly nil of the crops have been eaten
nnd tho situation Is really pitiful.
Most of tho homesteaders have loft
the country anil those that hao re
mained will have to choose between
(itnrvatlon nnd leaving also. Thnao
poor poople havo not tho money to
purchnso fencing nnd tho destruction
of tho rnbblts will bo necessary for
them to succeed Having depleted
their nnturnl food supply the great
hordes of rabbits have left this dos
olnto valley and have migrated across
to tho hay and stock raising sections
In tho neighboring vnllov where thoy
nro at work on hay stacks. At a
small drive near Silver l.nke on De
cember 1!), 11116, 00 people killed
0000 Jack rabbits In the drive nnd
tho consensus of opinion was tint
for ovory 10 rabbits driven Into tin
corral 2 escaped diirlngt he driving.
Tho following week the snme ground
was again driven and .1100 more kil
led. This drive covered about I
sections and the present Infestation
la general over an urea many siiuuro
miles In extent.
Losses jiim Ilcjuy.
In the course of the conccrteil
poisoning experiment which no havo
been conducting In Crook county. I
havo conservative dninngo reports
from 11 poisoning organizations
showing Hint during tho year Just
closed 12!) farmers lost $18,000
worth of crops. No attempt has been
made tho damage to range though
nil stockmen complain bltyerly of
this loss. From those llgures It ap
pears that tho annual Iosh for tho
entire county must exceed $1(10,000.
It Is very evident that the Jack rab
bit situation Is worthy or sorlous con
ulderatloii and that systematic meas
ures should bo nkon to reduce this
dnmago.
For yearn tho Illolnglcnl Survey
tins been conducting careful experi
ments in tho control of those miiitiata
inJiirloiiH to agriculture. Tho results
of these Investigation!) havo been
gratifying and largo areas have been
domed of harmful rodents. Consid
erable work has been done on tho
Jack rabbit problems nnd extensive
experiments In the eradication of this
pest havo boun and nro being con
dueled. The various agencies which dew
tioy rabbits nro: (1) natural ono
lilies, (2) illaease and sevoro win
tois, CD driving, (I) shooting, (R)
trapping, (ii) hounding, (7) imiUou
lng. KtpurlmontH destroy rabbits
by liiiuMMilntlon with an Infectious
dhjonso have thus far fulled uotwlth
HtrndliiK ruiuorn to the contrary.
Tim State Livestock Hniiltarv Hoard
In lUU'-l.t uxpiirlmonted with a rab
bit Infection called "hiiuIIIim" that
had been mod In the Australian
plnguos, but when usod under Held
eonilltliiiis. the disease did not soniii
triinttiriiMiHbln.
Natural Kucmle.
In oastern, southern mi Cuutr.il
Oregon tho Jack rabbit has mivoriU
natural eueinliw. These Include most
of tho largo hawkH mid owls, tingle
bob-cuts, coyotes and foxes. Th
mnnller hnwkH and owl occaslonaltv
destroy tho young rr.bbltn I'n'or'
uuately In iniinv of the sortie. i
wHuru thowe valuable birds a 'id mam
mnlH are needed, thov nro being
rutliliwely killed. It Is In fact the ab
sence, of these elllclent allies that has
helped to brill about (be present
Iiiftwtatlou of JsrW rubWU
I1Imjim
Severe winter coinbl i-d vM
rnvnitos of the rnbblt iI'hm " h
do more than all els "''
Brant miinber of rsbhlf ", '
of lOOii wu extreme' ".
Doitthorii Idaho. Km '
very cold and light ruin f " '
oral dn-8 followed hv m ' '
snow, thon the i.i.-
low oro nnd rulr'd
oral weokn. The riiih'
to have died lr the "
utnblo ruli uipm "
iiumt that tUe t " '
ulr was foul from "' '
los. For four v4i'
rabbits wro eomiw-"
and no exec iUium1
Ju 1910 they in'"r'.'
exctedinglv abundant, a fata! disease
or epidemic breaks out among mem
and thev totalis disappear from vast
areas. It appeara that this relief Is
only temporary for I know oi locali
ties heavily Infested where the dla
ease killed large numbers several
vears ago. The exact nature of the
illep In not well known. The
throat and lungs of diseased rabbits
seem much Infiamed, the vlcra ex
ceedingly moist, and the flesh and
skin drv According f Major uen
dlre, this disease Is reported to oj
cur with some regularity In southern
Idaho and we havo blnce found this
m li nnrtlallv true. .Mr. Krelile of
our bureau notes that following an
epidemic, the Utters Increase In le
for a short period and then decline
to normal.
Drlilii','
..iiiin,' tho lark rabbits at present
w'th the possible exception of the
r. nilml tnr market nuri)Oet the
most generally npplicnblo niet'iol oi
destroying them is by the use of
poisons. Tor sexernl wlntors pat the
illologlcal Snno) has been epprl
mentlng with rabbit poisons. Var
ious baits, such as oats, bran, nlfalia.
crushed barley, cabbages, carrots, i
o,.nUo nnininM. raisins. Drilli - en
sprouts, wheat heads, poisoned sa't
nnd poisoned water have been expei -mented
with. ,
The most effectual poisons which
wo find It practicable to uso at pres
ent are iroltonpd oats and pnone.l
chopped alfalfa In our expel.' -
the best time for rabbit polenn
proves to be during the cold w.n"
mnnths. when the rabbit's 'ii ituril
food sunul.v Is scarce nnd tin" irt
congrogated In large numbers, .ibn'it
runnhm. hav fields or In partliil il
I favorable portions of their n.i'urii
domain. The use of substantial p s
on corrals about 40 feet square wp'.i
In which the poison Is expose" Is
recommended when concorted in" bit
poison Is undertaken on n large ale
Tho results obtained by tho eee of
those poisons at tho hands of the far
mers has In most Instating bean
(mile satisfactory. In the Crook
r,-i... ,. nrtP,l .neverv winter count wotk one man ri'iu.u m... .B
. ..p. ... . . -" - -- : -
In lumvlh nfestei' localities as a
300 with 0 miarts of poisoned oats,
mcaimrc . ,.,, , t,ii, i- ti-IMi ?
i l.-a. .lt.lail MI1IJLI1FTI nttlirv llillll niiivu "
Pleasant diversion, i imvo buohuoui -------- - i.ti viti
drlvos here as man as 9000 Jack
rniibltn Iiiip been killed In a (lav
Although 1'iouannda of the pests aio
killed In this manner, the spasmod'c
efforts In connection with the man
agement or drives and other factors
have provc-i this an ineffectual meth
od of destroMng Jack rabbits over
nrco areas. I have known or tt few
ureas driven over which remained
freo of rabbits for a short period,
but usually the rodents swarm In and
Infest the e. eared areas. As It takes
from 200 to 100 people to conduct
n successful drive, driving can only
bo resorted to when no other farm
work enn be done.
Trapping.
Trapping about hay stacks and reg
ular feeding grounds with the var
ious forms of fonco traps effects tho
capture of large numbers of jack
rnbblts. It U not so effective on a
largo scalo as poisoning however.
Hounding.
Somo ranchers kept large packs of
greyhounds, Ilualxan wolf hounds
nnd fox hounds to catch the rabbits.
Owing to tho abundanco of the ro
dents, tho dogs soon loso Interest In
tho sport and this method of crndl-
iunrts and one organization killed
210 with 12 quarts, un mo oiner
hand some of those who do not fol
low directions concerning tho pro
portion and distribution of poisoned
onts havo had poor results. Work
of this nature cannot bo accomplish
ed without careful study nnd a couplo
years more exnorlenco will be necos-
l snry before tho people will learn the
most successful method or distribut
ing the poison.
In order to obtain a maximum ef
ficiency economically In co-operntlvo
poisoning, the following plan Is ad
vised. Tho Infested communities
should form community poisoning or
grnlzatlons, the oxpenso to bo pro
rated accordingly. Ono man should
bo put In charge of tho poison prep
aration who will mnke systematic
poisoning IiIb (nislncsB nnd who will
havo authority to order n gonoral
poisoning when conditions nro fnvor
nblo. Poison should bo prepared nt
n contra! location time eliminating to
n largo extent tho danger nttendnnt
upon Its uso. Great enro should bo
taken to prevent accidents nnd all
equipment and utenslla used In tho
preparation of poisons should bo kept
plainly labeled and out of reach of
The Sifn of Bettor Quality Hosiery
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When you buy hosiery whut do yon look for? Do you
compare various grades? The Armor Plate Hosiery
will staud the closest investigation.
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in every pair of hosiery.
Drop in and let us talk this brand of hosiery to you.
SHUEY'S
Oregon Transfer Company
OFKICK 1.00 CAMS' COUS'KIt
Miotic Muck lot
Mining Household Coal nnd Wood
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NXl'HKSS ANI lt.ti.(ii:
Al'TO TKITCK MOVINti ANVWUUUK
youu iiACG.uiK ciu-:cui:i AT uomk
u-hnrn the Jack rnbblts nro known to
be more numerous nnd tho entire
locality should uu poisoned intoiu
L'pnth Including school sections,
rocky sage brush plains, Juniper cov
ered buttes anil other areas ot unin
habited land. A good plan Is to halt
tho rabbits to 'corrals several days
previous to poisoning by exposing it
few forkfuls of clean nlfatfa hay and
tii in get intr rations to rceuing mere
regular!) In this way n larger num
ber of rabbits enn bo killed with a
smaller amount of poison thnu If It
wore distributed haphazardly
through sngo brush or on fields. En
closed hay stacks nro Ideal bait spots
for tho exposure of poisons. The
personnl equntlon enters Into the
work here. The careful poison mixer
I v in not oxposo poisons on windy,
ire stormy, or warm nlchts when rabbits
.. .. . ."
remain In tho brush, but he will visit
tho bait spots In the evening proceed
ing tho poisoning nnd make sure the
rabbits nro feeding on tho baits.
Tracks on tho snow nro a poor Indi
cation of the number of rabbits pres
ent as 10 rnbblts In n night can track
up a smnll nren so that tho uninitiat
ed would estlmato that at least 75
rabbits had visited the spot. If the
rabbits nro going to visit tho corrals
on a certain night a large proportion
of thorn will bo feeding there about
dusk. Then and only then Bhould
poison bo exposed. If tho rabbit
problem Is worthy of serious consid
eration It Is nlto worthy of careful
study and tho application of business
liko methods. It Is only by such sys
tematic, effort as this supported by
every person concerned that good re
sults can be obtained. Arrangements
should ho mado to purchase atrych
nlno In 100 ounce lots thus obtaining
same nt minimum cost.
This plan tins been successfully fol
lowed In several counties nnd Is es
sentially tho same ns tho ono nt pres
ent In uo In tho Crook county ex
periment. Twonty of those commun
ity poisoning associations havo been
actively ongnged In Jack rnbblt pois
oning. Somo of theso clubs have
made good kills nnd considerable
progress has boon made this winter.
At tho end of tho Irst week In Febru
ary, 19010 rnbblts had been poisoned
In Crook count)'. With tho 3500
which tho Hlologlcal Survey hnvo kil
ted at Its experiment station In Silver
Lako a total of 22540 rnbblts havo
been killed. A letter from tho Dakar
Commercial Club states that by tho
uso of Government formulas, sovcrnl
thousand rabbits wcro killed this
winter In that locality.
Kut-N of i.lttlo Value.
Tho press contains n good doal of
rot these days concerning tho Jack
rabbit situation wrltton by poorly In
formed people who overlook the fact
that for several years scientists havo
boon carefully Investigating this prob
lems Consldornblo has been written
concornlng tho uso of rabbit fur nnd
it Is populnrly supposed to bo of value
In tho manufacture of fur felt hats.
This Is true to a slight extent. How-
ovor. nntlvo skins nro very Inferior
for this purposo to thoso of European
and Australian rnbblts which enn ho
bought In this country for about 5
conts each, bo that manufacturers
cannot pny over 1 or 2 conts for our
native rnbblt polts. At this rate sav
ing tho skins would hnrdly pay.
It Is doubtful If success In rnbblt
extermination on n largo Bcalo will
ovor bo attained until all rabbit In
fostod localities throughout tho stnto
nro poisoning simultaneously. Such
an Idoal condition will bo dllllcult to
bring about and possibly this can on
ly bo accomplished by tho passing of
post laws. Only tempornry relief
will ho cccurod by killing thorn In
ono locality if tho land Is to be re
Infested with rabblta from adjoining
localities. Tho factor of weather con
ditions Is a very Important ono In
Contra! Oregon, though not so much
so ns In tho eastern and soiithorn
portions of tho Stnto whore moro se
vere winter weather conditions pre
vnll. It Is posBlblo that the mild
winters may defent to somo oxtent
our work In Crook county. After tho
fnctor of wenther conditions Is tnkon
Into consideration, tho success of
community poisoning depends entire
ly upon tho progrosslvcness of thoso
concerned. Wo can only domonstrnto
tho method, Its practicable applica
tion ovor largo areas Is tho farroora'
own problom,
Ilowovor progress Is bolng mado
and as this work will probably be
necessary throughout tho next docado
I feel that Its Inception at this par
ticular porlod Is qiUte timely nnd
will ovontunlly result In consldornblo
bonolU to thoso concernod. Hi clos
ing I wish to oxpross my appreciation
for tho constant nnd olllclont nsslst
nnco of County Agriculturist A. B.
I.ovott. In the laborious task of ar
ranging Cor meetings and getting far
mers togethor In Crook county for
tho purposo of systematic nnd con
certed wnrforo against Jack rabbits
fljy-rir
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