The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-10-27
ABOUT THE JACK RABBIT.
TROUBLES ENCOUNTERED BY PRO-
MoTERs OF coURSING EVENTS.
Futile Attempts to Catch the Speedy Lit
tie AnImaI-A Rabbit Farm Established
TO ObvIate the Dinicuisy--A Successful
Scheme At Last Perfected.

Scheme At Last Perfected.
Jack rabbits may be said TO be found
now nearly altogether west Of the Mis-
souri, river. They were lately numerous
on the town site of Kansas City, but have
now grown comparatively scarce there,
and also at Omaha, although they are
still often seen on the prairies near tho
latter city. The would be captor Of the
jack rabbit, however, will find his ami
NAL in bewildering plenty on the table
lands of certain portions of Colorado, and
in good numbers in the western portion.
of Kansas and Nebraska, it being native
to almost the whole territory IL the latter
two states.
The fact is. it is no easy matter TO cap
turc live jack rabbit. Plenty Of people
say they can catch them, and think they
can catch them, but when it comes right
down to business the results do not war
rant the assertion. One vehement Colo
RADIO citizen who lived in a section where
the Jack rabbits fairly swarmed has re-
peatedly declared his ability to capture a
thousand jacks in "A week. He thought
he could take n number of men and some
long nets and make drive which would
round up about an acre of writing and
seething jack rabbits at a whir. His
project is not new and has been tried.
The result usually is that the big hares
either get away or get killed. Eastern
parties DESTROYS Of starting inclosed cours-
ing parks have had outstanding offers of
s. apiece for jack rabbits not any longer
than your hand, but they were unable 10
get any. A few young ones are occa-
sionally picked up in nests by boys or by
hunters upon the western plains, and
once in "A long while one is caught in a
big figure A. trap or "fail door trap,
although the latter does not often hap
pen, because Of the bigness and shyness
of this particular kind of rabbit. Neither
of these sources Of supply, however, is in
any way constant. and both are altogether
inadequate TO the eXigencies Of regular
coursing events 1t did not take long,
therefore, for the projectors Of an in
they must have jack rabbit farm. The
only farm Of this sort, so far rs known,
is situated on flat alkali section near a
town in central Kansas. II and its jack
rabbits are the property of coursng as
ISOLATION which will not sell a rabbit 10
any one else, and which depends on its
farm for the supply of hares taken to
other cities IN park coursing events.
At starting the projectors Of this novel
farm had only about thirty jack rabbits,
which had for the most part been pur-
chased when young from farmer boys
who had found them. In one year, ow-
ing to accretions from similar sources,
and to the very rapid multiplication Of
the species, there were between two and
three hundred full grown jacks on the
farm, and the question of supply may be
fairly said 10 be settled. If measures be
not taken to keep down the increase the
lacks will before long fill the farm up so
they will have to move the fences.
But when the rabbit farmers wanted
some rabbits for a coursing event, they
at first found that they had still to catch
their rabbit. The game was on the farm,
to he sure but there was a good deal OF
farm TO the amount Of rabbit; moreover,
the latter remained possessed Of all his
native wildness and speed, and positively
declined TO be interviewed at short range
In this dilemma, the owners Of the farm
tried the cxpedient which the sol disant
Colorado rabbit catcher suggested. They
took large strip Of wire fence netting
through whose mcshes the hares could
not pass, and by means of large num-
Der of men used this as a sort of rabbit
seine. They seined all one afternoon, in
the midst of "A gentle Kansas zephyr, and
when the shades of night fell they had
one small and absent minded jack rab-
bit, which had forgotten TO ran away.
1t was evident that some other plan must
be tried. There is regulation coursing
track situated in the middle of this farm.
the side fences of the course being about
half mile long and, say, hundred
yards apart. At one end Of this are 10
Gated the escapes for the rabbits, and at
the other, which narrOws down TO a
point. are the pens from which they are
loosed before the dogs.
1t was thought that if the coy crea-
lures could be gotten inside the coursing
track, they could be driven into the pens
at the other end without trouble. An
effort was made to drive them into the
track, but they proved obduratc as ever,
and only few could be handled in that
way. The way finally adopted as most
successful was to set little covered PIT
fall, with a tip up top, on the outer edge
of the track fence. The hares have
habit of running along fence, and 1t
was found they made a sort of path
along both sides of the course. In this
the tip tops were set. y hare steps on
the lid of the trap. and down he goes.
He finds he can get ont all right on the
inside Of the fence. and SO out he climbs.
When number are found in the inclo-
sure they are driven into the pens nj the
head of the track. BY using a trail OF
corn and other food the CAPTURE OF The
harcs is expedited.
4 Jack rabbit is a strong animal, but,
like most Of the Lepus family, he has
soft spot in the back Of Ills head. The
adults are naturally very wild. and
grow so frantic when handled that some
times they strike their heads against
something and injure or kill themselves.
The young ones, OF those brought up in
captivity close TO human beings, are not
so desperate. but there is always TO be
feared disposition in one of these great
hares either to pull an arm off his capt
or or n leg off himself. The greatest
care, therefore, is necessary in caging
and shipping the rabbits. They are care
fully Melted or Otherwise taken out Of
the pens and gently placed in padded
crates, so that they may not hurt them
selves. BY such measures it has been
found that they stand shipment very
well. and with almost no loss of life
l. Hough in 81 IOuis Globe Democrat.