The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-11-18
THE MULE cared JACK RABBIT.
Exhnarating Autumn Sport In Chasing
Him on tho PrairIcs.
Especial Correspondence

Him on the Prairlcs.
Especial Correspondence
ABILENE, Kan, Nov. No one who
has not tried it knows what sport there
is in jack rabbit hunting on tho prai-
ries. All through the autumn scores OF
fleet hounds and rapid saddle ponies
are accompanying lovers of the exhil-
aratlng chase to favorable starting
points on tho plains. Tho Jack rabbit
IS growing comparatively scarce, but
he seems also to be growing more
speedy. He is no more like the ordi-
nary cottontail" than the dray horse
is like the thoroughbred. His long, lean
body, well muscled and agile rs cats
his mulelike ears, half as long as him
self, his kangaroo gait and tremendous
ability for getting to his destination
mako him an ideal game, while with
tho hunger sauce furnished by lively
days sport n rabbit potpie is a delicacy
that appeals to the palate with irresis-
tiblo force.
Modern rabbit hunting is not like
that Of the settlers. Their mongrel
dogs were at disadvantage when
pitted against the jack. Having started
their quarry, the rabbit had all the fun.
Running with short jerky gait lit
tie ways, he would stop, rise upon his
hind legs, prick up those towering cars
and watch his painting followers. Then
becoming weary of the sport he would
start i'll earnest. A jump, a patter, Il
long sailing leap-and away he flies,
apparently only touching the earth Mt
Irl, I
might as well try to capture western
cyclone. He could do nothing but give
up the chase and with n despairing yelp
return to his master, disgraced.
The real sportsmen go out with grey
hounds and racers. They go in com
panies and mean business. They give
the rabbit some pointers on racing.
When the dogs are loosed, they know
what is expected of them, and as their
silky, slender forms move gracefully
here and there through the short, hair
like buffalo grass they are the perfec-
ton of beauty and speed. Some of them
have royal canine pedigrees that date
back for century and connect with
the famous coursera of England and
Franco. 1t is luxury for them to
spend some Of their nervous force upon
the Kansas or Nebraska prairies, and it
furnishes exquisite sport for their own.
ers and the onlookcrs
When q rabbit is started--and in the
less thickly inhabited prairie sections
where the sport usually takes place it is
not difficult to find such game at short
notice--there is fun for all. The rabbit
may think he has another picnic occa-
sion with II settlers mongrel cur, but
he has not. The greyhounds are eager
for the chase and are as we'll built for
it as the 1.-the object they are pursuing.
The jack strikes his best gait at the first
leap. For awhile he gains on the ter
rifically rapid followers and is a nero
bobbing speck ahead. But blood and
length of limb count against him, and
the wide gaping mouths and pearly
white teeth of the dogs gradually come
nearer. The jack is eager for holo of
some kind in which to stow his trern-
bling body. He wavers-it is u fatal
strategy. The dogs close up faster, and,
dodge, turn. leap as he may, he is soon
snapped up by ono of the fierco mouths
and goes trembling through the air and
falls upon the grass, tho loser.
The pleasure of this kind of sport is
being recognized more widely each year,
and series of coursing meetings has
enlivened the autumn. Coursing clubs
from eastern cities have loaded up
their dogs and held their meetings upon
the prairies Of Dakota, Nebraska and
Kansas. The number of clubs has
doubled over last season, and the con-
tests promise to increase in popularity.
The closing meeting is that Of the
American Coursing association at Great
Bend. which has carefully stocked pre-
serves, " if so they may be called, in an
ancient basin, probably once lake bot
tom, now called the Cheyenne bottoms.
Here has been erected commodious
clubhouse, and hundreds Of spectators
gather to see the spirited trials. Dogs
are matched two and two and the win
ners against each other. The coursing
races differ from horse races in that the
interest increases as each "heat" is run,
the last determining the winner for
the whole list. Like the antelope and
the buffalo, the jack rabbit will with the
closer settlement of the plains be driven
into the mountains and perhaps become
some day Renaissance. 1t is already
scarce enough to make hunt enjoyable,
and sportsmen are realizing that they
have o novel and interesting diversion
presented by this form Of game seek
Ing. Probably no amusement the
prairies can now furnish is more at
tractive, and certainly no section of the
east can in any way rival tho plains in
this sport or in any one approaching it
in principle. Only the west can furnish
all necessary conditions.