488 



THE NATIONAL GI'OGRAPHIC AIAGAZINE 



■JIII-; 'IRACKS OF THE JACK RABBIT 



Tlic tracks of the western jack rabbit re- 

 seml)le those of the cottontail (se': r^ge 49- )> 

 but tlie feet are seldom paired; a typical set 

 is seen in the lower left-hand corner. The 

 bounds cover lo, I2, or even 15 feet each. 

 The tail is held down, so that it leaves a mark 

 in the snow between each bound. Sometimes 

 the animal makes a spy-hop — that is, hops up 

 high to look around. This is seen in the track. 



developing marvelous action in a continuous 

 series of rapid, low stretching leaps, with ears 

 lying flat along the shoulders, it skims over the 

 ground almost as swiftly as a bird. Coursing 

 jack rabbits with greyhounds was for many 

 years a favorite sport in different parts of the 

 West. No other dog has much chance for suc- 

 cess in the open pursuit of these animals. 



Ordinarily jack rabbits are mute, but when 

 wounded and caught thev not infrequently 

 utter a series of long-drawn wailing shrieks 

 which are movingly expressive of terror and 

 pain. 



Since the settlement of the Western States 

 numberless predatory animals have been killed 

 and at the same time the cultivation of the soil 

 has produced a dependable increase in the food 

 supply. These changes have resulted in the 

 sporadic increase of jack rabbits in many parts 

 of their range, from Texas to Oregon, until at 

 times they have become a serious menace to 

 agriculture. 



During such periods of abundance they in- 

 vade fields and devastate grain, forage crops, 

 vineyards, and young orchards. In places they 

 sometimes actually destroy entire crops and 

 force settlers to abandon their locations. In 

 winter they swarm about haystacks and de- 

 stroy many tons of hay. Depredations of this 

 character were committed by them on a con- 

 siderable scale during 1916 in parts of Oregon, 

 Idaho, and Utah. 



During the early development of the San 

 Joaquin Valley, California, jack rabbits became 

 such an intolerable pest that great community 

 drives were organized. Large woven wire cor- 

 rals with wing fences leading away several 

 miles from the entrance were built on the 

 open plains. Tlie occasions of the drives were 

 made public holidays through all the surround- 

 ing region, and people gathered sometimes to 

 the number of from 5,000 to 8,000. A great 

 line of beaters was formed, miles in length, 

 and the jack rabbits were driven between wing 

 fences into corrals. Four such drives in 

 Fresno County In the spring of 1892 resulted in 

 the destruction of 40,000 jack rabbits, one drive 

 netting more than 20,000 animals. 



At this time the level floor of the San Joa- 

 quin Valley was crossed l)y numberless well- 

 worn rabbit trails six or eight inches broad and 

 one or two inches deep, extending in long 

 straight lines sometimes for miles. On ap- 

 proaching a patch of large weeds one often 

 saw twenty or thirtv jack rabbits dash out and, 

 after hopping away a short distance, sit with 

 upstanding ears to look curiously at the in- 

 truder. 



It is a general rule that when any species of 

 animal becomes extremely numerous it loses 

 its ordinary wariness and, conversely, when its 

 numbers are materially reduced its wariness is 

 greatly increased. The periods of abundance 

 01 jack rabbits usually extend through several 

 years until, at the height of their increase, a 

 contagious malady suddenly sweeps them away 

 almost to the point of extinction, as in the case 

 of the varying liare. A period of years fol- 

 lows during which their nunilocrs are slowly 

 recovered. 



