CHAPTEE VI. 



VALUE OF THE JACK RABBIT. 



The question may well be asked whether the jack rabbit has any 

 value or can be utilized in any way. In 1800 the Eoyal Commission of 

 New South Wales sugg^ested that '' rabbits may be used for food, either 

 fresh, frozen, canned, jerked, or as soup; for their skins and fur in the 

 manufacture of gloves and felt; for extracting glue and oil; and for 

 reduction to manure.'" Xevertheless they discouraged the principle 

 of commercial utilization on the ground that it would lead to the pres- 

 ervation of the rabbits instead of their destruction. But after many 

 experiments with poisons, diseases, traps, and other methods of destruc- 

 tion, and an outlay of millions of dollars for fences, this very method 

 has recently been advocated as the most promising, by the Hon. J. H. 

 Carrnthers, Minister for Lands in New South Wales. In his opening' 

 address to the rabbit conference, held at Sydney on April 2, 1895, he 

 said : 



One feature of the rabbit question has not, it is thonglit, received sufilicient atten- 

 tion at the hands of the snfferers in this eolony, and that is the coraniercial utilization 

 of the aninniL In the past suggestions of tliis character have met with condeni- 

 nntiou on the ground tliat it wonhl lead to the conservation of the rabbit, but if 

 would ai)p<'ar that tlie lime for such argninent has disappeared. Experience in tlie 

 past leads to the belief that the rabbit is a fixture, and there should be no reason 

 why persons resident in localities suitable for the purpose should not seriously con- 

 sider why the animal should not be nuide to contribute to the cost of its own 

 destruction. It is, of course, apparent that operations of this character would only 

 be possible over a limited area of the infested country; but with the easy means of 

 reaching foreign markets, it is worthy of consideration whether the carcass of the 

 rabbit may not be used as an article of food, either frozen or canned, and whether the 

 skins and fur may not be profitably applied in the manufacture of gloves and felf.-' 



In this country, however, the larger hares have been used in only a 

 few of the ways suggested by the Royal Commission of New South 

 Wales, viz, (1) for sport, especially in coursing, (2) for their skins, and 

 (3) for food. 



The pursuit of the jack rabbit furnishes excellent sport with the 

 shotgun or rifle as well as to the mounted rider eager for a trial of 

 speed with hounds. It is often a difficult matter to get a shot if the 

 rabbit ha])pens to be somewhat wary, but on the other hand, if the 

 game is abundant and not too shy, large numbers may be readily killed. 



' Final Rept. Royal Com. Inquiry Exterm. Rabbits, Australasia, 1890. p. 4. 

 -Rept. Proceedings Conference Rabbit Pest, New South Wales. Sydnev. 1895, v. 7. 

 8(>15— No. 8 5 ' 65 ' 



