BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SUR\'EY. 351 



of them were killed ; as a result, no damage has since resulted to the 

 cotton crops in tliis locality. 



Campaigns for the destruction of Jack rabbits were organized on 

 u large scale in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Utah, and Ari- 

 zona under the leadership of bureau representatives and along co- 

 operative lines similar to those employed in combating other rodents. 

 In .some instances the destruction of these animals was accomplished 

 through extended poisoning operations. In Lincoln County, Idaho, 

 farmers reported an average of 400 rabbits killed with each ounce of 

 strychnine used, while two farmers in Gooding County reported 

 killing 1,000 rabbits with each ounce. Minidoka County reported 

 killing 40,000 rabbits in their poisoning campaign. Great numbers 

 of jack rabbits were also destroyed by organized drives in these 

 States. In some instances the animals were shot as the drive pro- 

 gressed toward a point of concentration made by converging fences 

 or natural barriers. In others they were driven into fenced in- 

 dosures and killed. The destruction of as many as 10,000 jack rab- 

 bits resulted from individual drives of this character. Farmers re- 

 port practically^ complete protection of their crops the present season 

 in localities where the.se campaigns were conducted. 



Man}^ thousands of skins of the rabbits thus killed were cured and 

 marketed at good prices. Wherever it was practicable to do so the 

 carcasses of unpoisoned rabbits were also prepared and shipped to 

 city markets for human consumption ; in other cases they were util- 

 ized as feed for chickens and hogs. In some localities it was possible 

 to keep jack rabbits under control merely b}^ bringing the market 

 value of the skins and carcasses to the attention of the people. 



Complaints of damage by cottontail rabbits were received from 

 man}- localities throughout the country. As an example of the de- 

 structiveness of cottontails may be cited a new 3-acre vineyard 

 planted during April, 1920, in a foothill location in Tulare County, 

 Calif. Before the end of May the vines had been completely de- 

 stroyed, the rabbits even digging down to get at the tender sprouts. 

 This delay of a year in establishing the vineyard, together with the 

 money expended on it, involves the loss of hundreds of dollars and 

 is an illustration of the kind of damage done in numberless places on 

 a great variety of garden truck and orchard crops. Advice covering 

 methods of control by means of properly built woven-wire fences and 

 the employment of poisons and traps has been given numerous in- 

 quirers desiring to eliminate losses from this source. 



MICE. WOOD RATS, AND COTTON BATS. 



Damage b}- various kinds of meadow and pine mice in orchards 

 has been very widespread, extending from the orcharding sections of 

 Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York west to Washing- 

 ton, Oregon, and Idaho. In the last three States assistance was ren- 

 dered the orchardists through the bureau's regular force of experts 

 engaged in local rodent-eradication work, and effective measures of 

 destroying these pests were demonstrated. In the Eastern States 

 orcliardists. florists, and truck farmers were aided through circulars 

 and bulletins describing methods of eradication. In a few instances 

 it was possible to detail representatives from the AVashington office 

 to near-by points to demonstrate effective procedure. 



