42 JACK RABBITS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



8tli day of July, 1895, tlie couuty paid the sum of $22,963.69, making 

 an aggregate of $31,093.44. 



" I have myself been much interested in these iigures, and find that 

 during the 33 quarters embraced in the first i)eriod stated the average 

 quarterly amount was $232.27, while during the 35 quarters embraced 

 in the last period the average quarterly payment amounted to $850.50. 

 It is noteworthy that during 1887 (latter part), 1888, 1889, and part of 

 1890 the average (piarterly payments dropi^ed to approximately $100. 

 This was due to the very great destruction of rabbits during the winter 

 of 1887 by extreme cold. It is thus seen that the average has been 

 growing larger, notwithstanding the bounty, and the figures for the 

 last quarter are $2,520.65 j that, with the current quarter, are of course 

 the heavy quarters of the year, and it is possible the total average per 

 quarter for the year [1895] will not exceed $1,000. These figures 

 seem to indicate that the bounty is not a success in the matter of 

 exterminating the pests," — and yet at the rate of 3 cents apiece more" 

 than 1,000,000 rabbits must have been destroyed. 



OREGON. 



Under the session laws of Oregon, 1887, a bounty varying from 1 to 

 5 cents was ottered for jack rabbits. The law specially stated that this 

 bounty was to be paid for the Black-tailed Rabbit, and none seems to 

 have been i)aid on the Plains Jack llabbit {Lepus campestris), which 

 occurs in the same region. During the years 1888, 1889, and 1890, Lake 

 County paid bounties on 54,000 rabbit scalps at the rate of 4 cents each, • 

 amounting in all to $2,160. 



TEXAS. 



In April, 1891, the legislature of Texas passed "An act to protect 

 stock raisers, farmers, and horticulturists," which provided — 



That liereafter when any person shall kill any wolf, either coyote or lobo, pan- 

 ther, Mexican lion, tiger, leopard, wild-cat, catamonnt, or jack rabbit, he shall be 

 l)aid in the county in which he kills such animal or animals the sum of two dollars 

 for each coyote, and the sum of one dolUir for each wild-cat or catamount, and the 

 sum of five dollars for each panther, lobo, Mexican lion, tiger, or leopard, and the 

 sum of one dollar per dozen for jack rabbits, and fifty cents per dozen for prairie 

 dogs so killed.' 



The sum of $50, 000 was appropriated and expended in carrying out 

 the provisions of this law. Unfortunately it has not been possible to 

 obtain the amounts paid for each of the animals named, so that the 

 total bounty on jack rabbits can not be stated. The burden of this 

 expenditure fell so heavily on some of the southwestern counties of the 

 State that the law was repealed in March, 1895, and a new act substi- 

 tuted which made the payment of bounties optioiuil with the counties, 

 and omitted jack rabbits and prairie dogs from the list of proscribed 

 animals. 



1 General Laws of the State of Texas, 22d legislature, 181H, p. KJO, chap. 100, sec. 1. 



