44 JACK RABBITS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Government ExpendUmeH for Desiruciion of Rahhils in Australia and Xeio Zealand, 



JS79-1SSS.* 



T^ew South Wales 1883-1888 t £732, 236 £23.997 also expended for fences. 



Queensland Up to Dec, 1887 i {•) , £59,737 for fences. 



South Australia 1881-1838 128,595 1 



Victoria 1879-1888 ' 131, 724 ' On unoccupied Crown l.nnds. 



New Zealand 1882-1888 18,453 , £12,530 also expended for South 



I Canterbury fence. 



Tasmania May, 1883-,Tan.. 1888 . . 82,882 j 



1, 093, 890 Add £96,264 for fences. 



* Pro(2Te8.s Kept. Xew South "Wales Koyal Com. Inquiry Exterra. Rabbits. 1890. App. II. pp. 190-192. 



t Honi.J. H. Carrafhers. Minister for Lands, gives £831.457 4s. Id., as the total amount expended from 

 the passage of the rabbit act in 1883 to June 30, 1890. The figures for each year are less in nearly 

 every case than in tiie statement quoted above, but represent tbe sums disbursed "solely for the pur- 

 pose of attempting to get rid of the rabbit.'' From July 1. 1890. to December 31. 1804, the expenditure 

 amounted to only '£22,761, which was devoted to fences, ' (Kept. Conference Rabbit I'est in Jsew South 

 Wales, 1895, p. 6.) 



J Total expenditures up to 1894 (largelv for fences), £136,484 8s. (Tear Book Australia for 1894, 

 p. 145.) 



NATURAL ENEMIES OF JACK RABBITS. 



Birds of prey seldom molest the larger hares. Among those which 

 are known to feed on jack rabbits are the barn owl {Stri.r pratineola)^ 

 Audubon's caracara ( A>/y/>or»« cheriicaif), prairie falcon (F^i^'o mcxi- 

 cauus), and western red-tailed hawk; but remains of the Texan rabbit 

 bave been found in the stomach of the red-tail in only three cases 

 among a large number examined. The western horned owl {Bubo 

 virginianus stiharcfieuti) and the golden eagle {Aquila chrysatos) should 

 also be mentioned. The marsh hawk {Circus hudsonius) occasionally 

 attacks rabbits, and Mr. J. Alden Ii()ring shot one at Vernon, Tex., while 

 in the act of killing a young jack rabbit which weighed a pound and a 

 half. 



The mammals in this list are likewi.sc few in number, the most 

 important being the coyote {Gania latraus), gray woU {Cunis nubilus), 

 long-eared fox {Vulpe^t macrotis), gray fox {Urocyon), and wild-cat 

 {Lynjc). Skunks, weasels, and badgers may occasionally destroy the 

 young, but seldom, if ever, the full-grown hares. The badger, an inde- 

 fatigable hunter of the ground sijuirrcl and the prairie dog, is too slow 

 of foot to overtake the jack rabbit in a fair race, and is unable to cor- 

 ner him in a hole, as he can a burrowing animal. 



On the (ireat Plains the gray wolf undoubtedly destroys large num- 

 bers of jack rabbits in the region from ('olorado northward. In Mon- 

 tana, according to Dr. George Bird (Irinnell,' ''The abundance or 

 scarcity of the iirairie hare in any district dei)ends almost altogether on 

 the number of wolves to be found in the same tract of country. Where 

 all the coyotes and gray wolves have been killed or driven oft", the hares 

 exist in great numbers; but where the former are abundant, the latter 

 are seldom seen. We saw none near the Missouri Kiver, where the 

 buftaloes, and consequently the wolves, were numerous; but at Camp 



Ludlow's Kept. Reronnaissnure Yellowstone Nat. Park, 1876, p. 69. 



