The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936, 1929-11-29

TuIarcrNa or raDDlt lever Has
nCw cc1ue to worry thousands OF
rural folk in Ea:tcrn North Caro-
lima. That destructive and peSti-
rc:Cws rodent the rabbit abomds
in the woods, swamps and fields
Of Eastern North Carolina. But
Cu- felix clt rabbit meat and thou
anJs OF farm boys make their
D0ckct mcucy all thru the fall and
winter mcnths, shooting and trap
E:ns rabbits for market. Now
comes the discovery cf fatct rab-
bit fever.
VIII consumers Of rabbit meat be
reared off rabbit by the rabbit fever
talk, and will the shooting and trap
ping Of rabbits cease to be a prof.
liable side line for thol lands Of farm
boys whose money-making oppor-
tunitics are strictly limited? And
if the rabbit is no longer pursued as
game. will the rodent not multiply
in such vast numbers as to become
q menace to agriculture as he has
in many States where it has been
found necessary to place bounty
on his head? These are questions
that may trouble many rural minds
before the winter is over.
But here IN Elizabeth City mar
kct men profess no alarm and rab-
bits were being bought and sold in
the City Market this week as II
TularCnma had never been heard OIL
1t is net understood that any one
ever contracted the disease from
eating rabbit; the disease seems tc
CCmc from 4 germ carried on the
body of the rabbit.
Tuarcn.ia, according to health
authorities, is most oft;n contracted
thru the handling Of rabbits, but
sometimes can pc traced to squir-
rels and ticks as well Ths lncu-
baton period is usually about "a
hours and the disease usually mani
tests itself thru the medium of chillS
headache. body pains, proStration
and fever. This period lasts 1oE
about three weeks.
The primary lesion, a a physician
Would say, i a pimplc, which later
breaks down, becoming an ulcer. II
other caaeS it starts with severe IN
rammaticn of the inner lining OF
the cyclid. In 654 cases studied by
the U. S. PubliC Health Service, "a
deaths have rc"ulted, which would
class this rabbit fever as a rather
deadly disease.
Rabbit, now the common name
in English. was for long confined
to the young of the COny. The ul-
innate source of rabbit" is itScli
unknown. Someone suggests 4 pos
yible connection with the SpaniSl,
rabO, tail. or rabcar, TO wag the
hind-quarterS.
Rabbits originally came from thC
western Mediterranean basin, but
they have spread to nearly all part;
of the Garth. There are 80 known
species of them in North America
A rabbit can bear young when it is
six months cid; the CESSATION perloc
is about 90 days. Rabbits breed from
4 to 8 times year and bear from
three TO eight young each time.
So, if the rabbit fever scarcS of
an aprrCciable number of hunters
and trappers, the number of rabbits
in this section will multiply itself
many times in a few months. Rab-
bits arc one of the greatest pests
farmer has to contend with. They
arc wanton and pcrniciouS destroy
erS of crops, a serious menace tx
agriculture, and one of the most
prolific Of all rodents.
If this rabbit fever SHES rabbit
hunters Off from their sport, it will
take profitable source of income
from farm boys and will add a few
mere grey hairs to the heads of the
farmers. This disease has not ap-
DearCd in a number of years unit
this fall. In fact, many have never
heard of it.