42 JACK RABBITS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



8tli day of July, 1895, the county paid the sum of $22,063.69, making 

 an aggregate of 831,093.44. 



" I have myself been much interested in these figures, and find that 

 during the 33 quarters embraced in the first period stated the average 

 quarterly amount was $232.27, while during the 35 quarters embraced 

 in the last i)eriod the average quarterly paj-meut amounted to 8850.50. 

 It is noteworthy that during 1887 (latter part), 1888, 1889, and part of 

 1890 the average quarterly payments dropped to approximately $100. 

 This was due to the very great destruction of rabbits during the Aviuter 

 of 1887 by extreme cold. It is thus seen that the average has been 

 growing larger, notwithstanding the bounty, and the figures for the 

 last quarter are 82,520.65; that, with the current quarter, are of course 

 the heav}'^ quarters of the year, and it is possible the total average per 

 quarter for the year [1895] will not exceed 81,000. These figures 

 seem to indicate that the bounty is not a success in the matter of 

 exterminating the pests,'' — and yet at the rate of 3 cents apiece more 

 than 1,000,000 rabbits must have been destroyed. 



OREGON. 



Under the session laws of Oregon, 1887, a bounty varying from 1 to 

 6 cents was ofiered for Jack rabbits. The law si)ecially stated that this 

 bounty was to be i)aid for the Black-tailed Kabbit, and none seems to 

 have been paid on the Plains Jack Rabbit (fjcptis campcxtris), wh'n^h 

 occurs in the same region. During the years 1SS8, 1S89, and 1890, Lake 

 County paid bounties on 51,000 rabbit s«'alps at the rate of 1 cents each, 

 amounting in all to 82,160. 



TEXAS. 



In April, 1S«>1, the legislature of Texas passed "An ai^t to protect 

 stock raisers, farmers, and horticulturists," which provided — 



That hereafter wbon any persou shall kill any wolf, either royoto or loho, pan- 

 ther, Mexican lion, tiger, k'()i)ar<l, wild-cat, tatamoiint, or Jack rabhit, ho shall bo 

 pai«l in the county in which he kills such animal <>r auinialH the sum of two dollars 

 for each coyote, and the sum <if one dollar for each wild-cat or catanu>unt, and the 

 sum of five dollars for each panther, lobo. Mexican lion, tiger, or leo]>ard, and the 

 sum of one dollar per dozen for jack rabbits, and fifty cents per dozen f<ir prairie 

 dogs so killed.' 



The sum of $50, 000 was ai)i)ropriated and expende*! in carrying out 

 the provisions of this law. I 'n fortunately it has not been jwssible to 

 obtain the amounts paid for each of the animals named, so tliat the 

 tt)tal bounty on jack rabbits can not l)e stated. The burden of this 

 expenditure fell so heavily on some of the southwestern counties of the 

 State that the law was repealed in March, 1895, and a new act substi- 

 tuted which made the payment of bounties optional with the counties, 

 and omitted jack rabbits and prairie dogs from the list of proscribed 

 animals. 



> General Laws of the State of Texas, 22d legislature, 1891, p. 160, chap. 100, sec. 1. 



