The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-05-06
California's Rabbit Pest.

CALIFORNIA; rabbit nuisance is as
Stunning proportions and making prog
ress which most unpleasantly suggest
comparison with the actual plague of
rabbits that afaict Australia afaicts
it in a hopeless degree, according to
the latest reports of the various CO.
lonial governments. California has
lately adopted some Australian meth
DDS Of thinning out the rabbits, and
apparently with about the same linn
tied measure of success. In Australia
the attempt to exterminate them has
been given up, and every effort is now
directed to combining the rabbits to
certain areas, or rather to keeping
them out of certain cultivated regions.
Even this entails enormous expense
on the governments and landowners,
is by no means sure, and often is un-
successful.
It is stated that in n county alone
in California the loss to farmers from
rabbits and hares amounted last year
to fully $500, 600. Many experiments
with poison have been made, but the
farmers have about concluded that the
only thing to do is occasionally to
thin out the rabbits by holding big
roundup hunts or drives. The story
of several of these drives recently un-
dertaken has been told in the Sun.
It is estimated that as a result of 140
drives in all held in California 356, 400
rabbits have been killed. But the
latest reports say there is no apprec:
able diminution in their numbers.
Some years ago the government of
New South Wales offered a reward Of
s25 900 to any one who suggested a
really efficient method of getting rid
of the rabbits. This offer stood open
for several years, and more than 1000
schemes were offered, coming from all
parts of the world. Many were tried,
but none found to be wholly satisfac-
tory, and finally the offer was with
drawn, and the Australians tried to
make up their minds to the inevitable
permanence of the pest. Ferrets,
stoats and weasels were imported and
bredin thousands, and they have done
good work. Poisons of al sorts were
tried with but little success. r Cats
were introduced, and they also did
good service. But the rabbits multi
ply at such an astounding rate that
they have much more than held their
own, and have spread into new regions,
destroying a large proportion Of all
crops wherever they have penetrated.
Directly and Indirectly South Aus
tralia loses fully s500, 900 a year from
rabbits. The government Of Victoria
has been working hard since 1880
trying to keep down the plague, and
has spent more than 4300, 600 in the
work. The amount of money spent
by farmers and other landowners is
incalculable. One man, owning a
large estate, has spent about e15,000
in the last few years fighting rabbits.
The government estimates that no
less than 81, 75O, 600 acres of land.
farming and grazing, in the colony of
Victoria, is infested by rabbits.
Many schemes have been offered for
making use Of the rabbits commercially,
and thus recouping at least a little of
the loss they cause. Many thousands
are killed and their skins used, and
something of a trade has been built
up in the shipment Of rabbits to Eng
land and elsewhere for food, either
canned or frozen. But the world cant
live on rabbit meat, and it would need
to in order to afford to the Australians
a profitable way of making use of their
rabbits. The skins are largely used
for many purposes. One concern in
Victoria uses 374, 900 rabbit skins
every year, and in the last II years
about 69, 600, 900 skins have been ex-
ported from Victoria.
There have been intercolonial con-
ferences, attended by representatives
of the various governments and dele
gates from the agricultural societies,
at which every phase Of the question
has been considered. The final de-
cision seems to be that determination
is impossible, and that the most eff
fectual way of dealing with the evil is
in building long fences of rabbit-proot
netting to keep the animals out of
areas not yet infested, to shut them
off from food supplies, and also to get
them together as much as possible 50