170 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 
ing the animals. In some Western States they 
are regarded with such disfavor that bounties 
have been paid for their destruction... 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 
1The 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. 
