POISONING AND TRAPPING 299 



melon-rind and the like are favorite baits. 

 Crystals of strychnine sulphate are inserted in 

 them and they are left along rabbit-runs, either 

 on the ground or elevated on short sticks. Arti- 

 ficial runs may be made in orchards with a drag 

 or a one-horse scraper. Another excellent bait 

 is oatmeal soaked in strychnine sirup. In any 

 case the rabbits must be carefully fenced away 

 from haystacks, or they may not eat the poi- 

 soned bait. 



Poisoning prairie-dogs and ground-squir- 

 rels. A few years ago the State of Kansas 

 carried on extensive operations against prairie- 

 dogs, destroying them almost completely over 

 nearly 2,000,000 acres of thickly infested land. 

 The poison was prepared at the State Agricul- 

 tural College, and was sold to townships and 

 individuals at cost, or the formula for prepar- 

 ing it was given to citizens who asked for it. 

 A modification was found necessary, however, 

 when the mixture was to be used in large 

 quantities and this was perfected by David E. 

 Lantz, with the following result : For 1 gallon 

 poisoned sirup, use 



