QQ JACK RABBITS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



In one of the large Colorado hunts, which are conducted mainly for 

 sport, two men shooting together at Lamar, in December 1894, secured 

 412 rabbits in two days. For the rifle, a jack rabbit on the run makes 

 a fine target, and one requiring skill and steadiness to hit. Hunting on 

 horseback with shotguns is considered much more exciting than on 

 foot and requires considerable skill in riding as well as in shooting. 

 Hunting the jack rabbit with hounds, however, is a form of sport which 

 seems to be increasing in popular favor, notwithstanding the fact that 

 it is considered cruel by some. 



COURSING. 



The adaptability of the large hares for coursing has long been recog- 

 nized. They are certainly superior in speed to any of the smaller 

 rabbits, but whether they are better than the Old World Hare is still 

 an open question. Thus far the evidence seems to be in favor of the 

 jack. Says Van Dyke^ in speaking of coursing in California: 



A dasli after the liare on a good horse and behind good dogs is one of the most 

 charming of outings. The horse enjoys the sport as well as the dogs do, and tries 

 his best to outrun the procession. The ground flies beneath you, the surrounding 

 mountains swim in a haze, the whole amphitheater seems to turn around while 

 you are standing still. Vainly the hare twists and sends the dogs spinning ahead 

 in confusion, while he scuds away on his new tack without the loss of an instant, 

 so far as you can see. All ordinary dogs fall out of the race. Even the wirj' and 

 swift coyote, though he loves hare more than anything else, rarely if ever feels 

 hungry enough for a stern chase. Biit if the greyhounds are good and tbe brush 

 not too near, the hare's doubling only postpones his end, however untiring his foot, 

 or fre(i[uent his twists. Vainly he lays his ears flatter upon his neck and lets out 

 another link of his reserved speed. Before he has made many turns he is caught — 

 perhaps in mid-air — and the dogs and hare go rolling over in a heap together. 



Coursing began in California in the early sixties, and has since been 

 carried on with more or less spirit by various clubs. About twenty 

 years ago the old Los Angeles Coursing Club used to follow the jack 

 rabbits with greyhounds on the mesa near Pasadena, and women as 

 well as men took part in the sport.^ In 1872 the Pioneer Coursing 

 Club of San Francisco held the first of a series of meetings at Merced. 

 Since 1890 the meetings of the Interstate Coursing Club have been held 

 at this jjlace, wliich has become one of the principal coursing centers 

 on the Pacific Coast. Other meetings have been held at Newark, Sau 

 Francisco, and near Los Angeles. 



The American Coursing Club was the first club east of the Kocky 

 Mountains to use jack rabbits, and in October, 1880, inaugurated a 

 series of annual meetings which were continued up to 1892 on the 

 Cheyenne bottoms, near Great Bend, Kans. In 1894 and 1895 the club 

 met at Huron, S. Dak. The National Coursing Association, of Hutch- 

 inson, Kans., was organized in 1888, with a capital stock of $50,000, and 



iThe Land of Sunshine, Los Angeles, Cal., Ill, Aug. 1895, pp. 116-117. 

 2 Forest and Stream, XXVIII, Jan. 27, 1887, p. 3. 



