Telegram-herald., 1890-02-18

Eutzis AttSmPss - t@s<e tNs St~N~f 49,
A.. A.l.a.I-A Ra.ssls F4rza Established
~ OsslAie the Daraeaisy-A saeosssful
sehssas - L..ss Perfected
Jaek rsbss1s may BE sid 70 be found
a0~ nearly altogether vest q TIE Ms
soari riyer. They were lately numerous
Ia ths town ste Of Kansas City, oat have
aow grown con- pa.rstlyeIY scarce there,
ana also al Omaha. although they are
srill often seen on tie pTslries near the
lafter city. TIE would be esptor of the
lack rabbit. however. viii md has AMI
mal ia bewildering plenty on the table
lands - certain portions Of Colorado, and
IN good numbers Ia the western portions
II Kansas and Nebraska, ~ belng native
u almost the u hole territory or~,ne latter
two states.
The fact is. il Is no easy matter 70 cap
tare a live jack rabbit. Plenty of people
say theg can catch them, ANA think they
can eaten them, but when It comes right
down 10 business the results 10 not var
rant the assertion. One vehement Colo
/ RADIO citizen who lived IA q section where
the iack rabbits fairly swarlned has re-
reatedly declared his ability % capture
thousand Jacks ia week. lie thought
I he could take a number Of men ana some
/ long nets and make drive which would
round up about an acre Of writhing aud
seeIhing jack rabbits at a whirl- 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 desirous Of starting inclosed cOuTS-
| ing parks have had outstanding offers of
/ s. apiece for jack rabbits not any longer
than your hand, bat they were unable 10
I Get any. 4 few young ones are occa-
tionally 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 10 the exigencies of regular
| coGrsing events. 1t did not take long,
therefore. for the projectors of an in
( closed coursing circuit To realize that
/ they must have jack rabbit farm. The
| only farm of this sort, SO far as known,
/ is situated on a ilat alkali section near a
| town in central Kansas. 1t and its jack
rabbits are the property of a coursing as
| soCiation which will not sell a rabbit TO
any one else, and which depends on its
farm for the supply of hares taken TO
| other cities In park ccursing 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
4 fairly said to 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 be 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 eXpedient which the sol disant
! Colorado rabbit catcher suggested. They
| took a large strip of wire fence netting,
/ through whose meshes 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 gentle Kansas zephyr, and
when the shades Of night fell they had
/ one small and absent minded jack rab-
bit, which had forgotten TO run away.
/ 1t was evident that some other plan must
/ be tried. There is a regulation coursing
/ track situated in the middle of this farm,
/ the side fences of the course being about
half a mile long and, say, hundred
Yards apart. At one end of this are To-
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.
It 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 obdurate as ever,
and only q few could be handled in that
way. The way finally adopted as most
/ successful was to set little covered pit
fall, with tip up top, on the outer edge
+ Of the track fence. The hares have a
7 habit Of running along fence, and 1t
was found they made a sort Of path
I along both sides Of the course. In this
the tip tops were set. A hare steps on
the lid of the trap, and down he goes.
lie finds he can get out all right on the
T inside Of the fence. and 50 out he climbs.
When number are found in the inclo-
sure they are driven into the pens at the
( head Of the track by using trail o.
I corn and other food the capture Of the
hares is expedited.
4 Jack rabbit Is a strong animal, but,
7 . I fo hos n