Dodge City times., 1890-05-16
THE GREYHOUND.
4 Southern California Method Of HantfAl
the Jack.Rabbit Of the West.

'"eAn:ooaI 2. sns "ese'
The greyhound is becoming n nonu.
lar dog in America. and coursino clnbs
are being formed throughout the conn.
try. dogs being imported at oreat ex.
pense. In certain REGIONS of G.l;forn;.
The hare exists in mvr;ads and the
ranchers keen the oreybonnde ~ ma
tn EN- of, so it is natural that Cali.
fornians should believe that thew have
some of the fastest dogs in the conntrv.
How fast can they run? A good greT.
hound has been known to run four
miles in twelve minutes. ..S;Ikn has
caught hare within one hundred and
fifty feet of the start and "a for
Mouse" now fat and heavy. have
run the fastest horse I could find
against her. and she was always inst
ahead, looking back as if to saw. "Nhy
don't you Gomez" The pace of the
dogs is illustrated by the fact that two
of them when running in a yineyard
came into collision; light and slender
as the animals were, one dogs neck
was broken and the other hound was
seriously injured.
Coursing is by no means new sport.
Not only is it an old English custom,
but even in the ancient carvings of
Thebes We find the greyhound. Among
the ancients, chasing the hare with
these dogs was considered a noble
sport. for the greyhound has an aris-
tocratic mien. and is the type of re-
tinemcnt and culture among dogs.
True coursing differs materially from
the methods of the hunt described, and
often degenerates into sport carried
on simply for gain. 1t was first organ
lied as sport by Thomas, Duke of
Norfolk, in the time of Elizabeth, and
the old rules are to some extent fol-
lowed in England to-day. In these,
the various efforts of the dogs in turn
ing the hare count. and numbers Of
dogs contest. one with another, to
finish. In America, coursing clubs
rarely. if ever. run the dogs in narrow
Enclosures. as 1t IS thought unsports-
manlike not to give the hare every ad-
vantage. Certainly. such is the spirit
of the sport in Southern California
The hare runs as fast as the dogs,
but as he lacks their endurance he takes
them up slopes and over rough coun-
try. displaying great cunning. One
hare, which l have chased a number of
times, invariably ran in wide circle,
finally leading the dogs among the
rocks, and escaping in a thick grove.
This little animal is indebted to me for
much exercise, and l have no doubt
ne enjoyed the running. The hare be-
ing smaller and lighter can turn more
quickly, and the best dog is the one
that can most adroitly meet these quick
changes OF direction. Ihe pack IS
rushing along when the hare suddenly
turns at right angle; poor dogs over
run and take a wide turn and, before
they can recover, the hare is FAR away.
Still. good dog will lose but little.
Once my dog had almost caught hare,
when the cunning animal darted to a
tree and began to run around it in
circle, while stopped and looked on.
Mouse could not make the turns SO
d;zzr for AZ tbe hare ran off she came
70 me verv mncb emb,rr.ssed at NV
ionrb,sr Anotber t;me 7 cow Jack
tnr5 suddenly dodoe Monse's snan at
him and Jart between her ,e~s and
away
Tho grevbourd rrnn;nr bv s;ob.
.,ono shows ron'ort.hio s.g.c;tv in
foIIow;no The c,ma leaning into tho
air as we hays seen looking .harnlv
ahont and nsino its inteIiioence in =
marvellous wav When a hare is CAUGHT.
ba ;s killed INSTANTLY and tossed into
the air. the other DOGS recoonizino
the winners rights and rarely making
an attemnt to tonch the game after the
doatb