18 



FARMERS BULLETIN 932. 



their burrows by fumigation with carbon bisulphid or by the dis- 

 charge of blasting powder. 



To destroy woodchucks with carbon bisulphid, saturate a wad of 

 cotton or waste with about 1J ounces of the liquid. Place the cotton 

 well inside the woodchuck burrow and close the opening with a piece 

 of sod, well stamped down. If there are two or more entrances to a 

 burrow, all but one should be tightly closed before fumigation. 



RABBITS. 



The smaller forms of rabbits, known generally as cottontails, 1 are 

 useful animals and become objectionable only when too numerous in 



B73M 



FIG. 14. An organized rabbit drive. Community cooperation in hunting jack rabbits 

 gives very good results in rendering the numbers of these animals, everywhere regarded 

 as a pest. 



the vicinity of orchards or nurseries. The same is true of the larger 

 snowshoe rabbits. 2 The jack rabbits 2 of the West are of less value 

 for human food, and, by reason of their abundance in newly settled 

 regions, often interfere greatly with crops and the growing of 

 orchard and other trees. 



Jack rabbits are not protected in any of the States, but are every- 

 where regarded as a pest. They afford considerable sport in cours- 

 ing with fleet greyhounds, and at times become so abundant and 

 destructive that entire communities unite to kill them by the or- 

 ganized hunt or drive (fig. 14). A large area is surrounded, and the 

 animals are driven toward some central point, where a wire corral 



Genus Sylvilagus. 



2 Genus Lenus. 



