170 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 



ing the animals. In some Western States they 

 are regarded with such disfavor that bounties 

 have been paid for their destruction. 1 In States 

 where they are most abundant, protection is 

 rarely afforded. In sections of the country 

 where a close season on rabbits is accompanied 

 by a strict enforcement of laws against tres- 

 pass by hunters, rabbits have often become a 

 nuisance. 



On the whole, in America shooting has been 

 the most effective means for keeping down the 

 number of rabbits. 



Ferreting usually is impracticable, since few 

 of our native rabbits take refuge in burrows. 

 Moreover, the use of ferrets is forbidden by 



i The bounty on rabbit ears paid by Gray County, recalls 

 the bounty paid on gophers in Wallace and Greeley counties 

 [Kansas] in 1894. The former county paid the bounty on 

 scalps, while Greeley County paid it on gopher tails. The 

 boys along the county line traded gopher tails for scalps, and 

 realized 10 cents on each gopher. A five-cent bounty was 

 paid on rabbit ears also, and rabbits and gophers were so 

 plentiful that many families made their living from hunting. 

 So much bounty money was claimed that Wallace County 

 resorted to scrip payment, and this became so plentiful that 

 its value dropped to 50 cents on the dollar. The county 

 finally tried to repudiate the scrip, and in suits fought to 

 the highest court, it succeeded after five or six years of ex- 

 pensive litigation. Kansas telegram to New York Times, Jan. 

 2, 1911. 



