The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1909-02-13
KILLED THOUSANDS OF RABBITS.

fronted with the jack rabbit, which
swarms over certain regions, and is SO
dangerous an enemy to civilization
that at times the people of district
are obliged to call upon the outside
world to assist in the act of extermi-
nation, says Charles F. Holder in the
New York Eyening Post.
Such an episode occurred recently in
and about the desert town of Lancas-
ter, in the Antelope valley, between
Mojave and Los Angeles. Farmers
have found 1t difficult, or almost i'm
possible, to settle up the country, be-
cause what they grew was eaten by
the hares, that roamed about in thou
sands. Last year they became such
menace that the farmers joined in
terests and asked for assistance. Ad-
vertisements were inserted in the pa
pers of Los Angeles and other cities
requesting people to come to Lancas-
ter on Oct. II, when horses and teams
would be supplied and a roundup
carried out.
More than three hundred men ac-
copied the invitation from Los Ange-
les, and the day was a great one for
Lancaster. At a certain location
corral was built with wide wings that
spread out to right and left for long
distance. The object was to form
long lines, covering miles of country,
and to drive the hares between them.
On the arrival ofthe train the hunters
assembled, received instructions from
those in charge, formed in a great di-
verging lines, and gradually moved
along, according to regular system,
driving the jacks before them.
Some men were armed with shot
guns, which they fred to frighten the
game, and it was not long before hun
dreds of jacks were darting about.
But they were always met by shouts
and yells and forced to run il a gen.
eral direction, the hunters, mounted,
on foot, and in wagons, being near
enough to prevent any number break
ing away; hence the trend of the con-
stantly increasing throng was in the
general direction of the corral, with
its yawning jaws or arms. Occasion
ally jack would dash through the
human barrier, or break away, to be
shot by the men.
The sight became more remarkable
every moment, as jacks seemed to
start up from every bush and every
cactus group; every patch of tar weed
concealed one or more. They often
lay low until the men were directly
upon them, when they shot away like
an arrow out of a bow. AS time
passed it was estimated that 5000
hares were in sight. Some stood
still, their tipped ears erect, lis
tening, watching, wondering what it
all meant, not realizing that they were
trapped /; others dashed madly across
the valley. But it was not until the
end of the run was reached that the
full exteut of the haul was manifest.
The gray soil seemed to have changed
to brown, white and black spots, and
to be moving.
At last the crowd closed in with a
rush and the herd of jacks, FIVE or six
thousands in number, were run into
the small corral, whence they were
killed by several hundred men with
clubs. 1t did not take long. Hun
dreds were packed and sent to the
city markets, and everyone who wished
it, within a radius of fifty or one hum
dred miles, had hare for all meals.
Their numbers in many cases are
beyond computation. Twenty-Five
thousands were killed in Modoc coun-
ty within ten square miles, and this
was but a fraction of those left. It is
estimated that twenty years ago there
were 2, ,ooo, 900 jack rabbits in the San
Joaquin valley. Near Bakersfield, a
mile of country produced 1900; Sec
ond drive over the same field produced
700; week later 200 more were
killed, and, finally 5000. On one
small ranch 8 900 jacks were killed
farming was impossible. At night,
when they were not watched, the
jacks ate everything green and gir-
died the trees. Since 1888 1000
hares have been killed in the immedi-
ate vicinity of Bakersfield. In drive
at Fresno, 10000 jacks were killed
and 8, 500 men took part.