Morning journal and courier., 1894-03-07
JACK RABBITS CAN FIGHT,
And When They do Get at it Ther
 fa A Lot of Rur in inc Air

And When They do Get at It There
 is a Lot of Fur in the Air.
 From the San Francisco Calll
 On Saturday last battle to a finish be- twssn two rabbits was witnessed by at least a dozen Iesshmen, all of whom state that they had never witnessed 6 more or beast.
 Canavan received from Trspper Brown ing of Merced two consignments of Jacks" few weeks ago that for some reason are to the fact of having bsen caught In diff ferent localities, they represent different tribes of the genus Lspus. However, the hares, properly called, have become very belligerent, and battles royal are almost of daily occurrence in the park. On Sstur- day last the patrons of the leash were af- forded 8 splendid opportunity of seeing a arrivals, and descriptive accouat of 'the war" was given to @ reporter:
 "We were chatting over the prospects of next days coursing and commenting on the weather" said the speaker, "when a jack was seen crossing ths field In the d. rection of the escape with another Jack' in hot pursuit. At first thought I thought some stray dog had got into the field at the south end and was driving the hares toward the feeding paddock Suddenly hare No. 1 turned in it's track and dashed at its pursuer. They telsscops1, 60 to speak, and then the fight was on- You should have been there to. see the fur fly. Thsls was no fake about ihis match; 1t was for blood and fur
 "Ths rabbits rolled in the mud after the first charge, and as they regained their pins they rose quickly on their hind feet and slsshed at each other with their front paws in a manner that would have made champions of the prize ring feel as If they were ss slow as a snail in their move. ments. positively never hsvs seen such fierce fighting. At each stroke the fur would be seen to fly in punches, and the fast and furious. After c minutes contest the pursued hare made an effort to run, but it was so badly crippled that 1t lost It's equilibrium and fell in the slush, where 1t received still further punishment from its opponent.
 i've thought that the jig was up with No. 1, and moved slowly toward the spot where the conflict had taken place. When within fifty yards of the fighting quadru- p6Qs the naro We huppOsSu Whb ucdu UT ing leaped to his feet and fought more vi- ciously than ever. The contest did not continue much longer, as the hare which had challenged Its opponent Tell back az if hit with lesden pellets and lay apparently dead on the field of battle. After driving the successful competitor away and pick | ing up the prostrate animal we found that both of its eyes were completely destroyed | and its face horribly lscersted. We easily | captured the 'conquering hero and had the two little pugilists cared for as we'll as circumstances would permit, but they were too severely punished to survive their wounds, and that evening the proprietor of the park found himself minus two of his imported hyers'-they had kicked the bucket"
 The sportsman further states that when | forwarding bsres to this city from where they are shipped the trapper must provide coops arranged in such a way that the rab- bits are separated from each other by com partments, otherwise they would fight un. | til death would end their trouble.
 John Dugsn, of Newark Park, lost 8 valuable lot of hares previous to the insu sural meeting held some years ago. Ship | ping hsres by express was a new venture at that time, and no precautions were taken by the shippers.