RABBIT DRIVES IN OREGON. 



69 



"Whether the present diminution in numbers is only temporary re- 

 mains to be seen, but this section of California is now being settled so 

 fast that it seems hardly possible for the rabbits to increase to their 

 former abundance under all the forms of destruction which can be used 

 against them. The case is instructive in showing the combined effect 

 of natural and other means of extermination. If rabbits could be sys- 

 tematically destroyed just after their numbers had been reduced by an 

 epidemic, they would receive a setback from which they would not soon 

 recover. 



The decline of rabbit driving is hardly to be deplored. In the San 

 Joaquin Yalley a drive was made the occasion of a general holiday; the 

 schools were closed and women aud children joined the throng to assist 

 in clubbing the rabbits or to watch the slaughter. It may be ques- 

 tioned whether such frequent scenes of butchery can have anything 

 but an injurious effect on a community, and it is fortunate that the 

 necessity for them does not now exist. 



OREGON. 



In Oregon the California method of destroying rabbits by drives has 

 been recently introduced. Throughout the region east of the Cascades 

 the black-tailed Texan Jack Eabbit {Lepus texianiis) is very abundant 

 and has become so troublesome in Lake County that $2,160 was ex- 

 pended for its destruction during the years 1888, 1889, and 1890. 

 More than a dozen drives were made iu December 1894, and January 

 1895, in the vicinity of Lakeview. In one of these, which took place 

 on January G, 1,975 rabbits were killed, while the total number slaugh- 

 tered during the two months amounted to 12,202. Several drives, 

 resulting in the destruction of 3,000 to 4,000 rabbits, have occurred 

 during the winter of 1895-96, but in the absence of any detailed report 

 they have not been included in the following table. 



Partial List of Babbit Drives in Oregon. 



Locality. 



Date. 



Rabbits 

 killed. 



Authority. 



Lake County. 



Dec. 18, 1894 

 Dec. 20, 1894 

 Dec. 22,1894 

 Dec. 24,1894 

 Dec. 27, 1894 

 Dec. 30,1894 

 Jan. 3,1895 

 Jan. 6, 1895 

 Jan. 10,1895 

 Jan. 17,1895 

 Jan. 20,1895 

 Jan. 24,1895 

 Other drives 



1,654 



1,767 



685 



1,592 

 300 

 973 

 1,975 

 1,146 

 304 

 200 

 280 

 500 



12, 202 



1,016 



C.U. Snider, Lakeview 

 Do. 

 Do. 

 Do. 

 Do. 

 Do. 

 Do. 

 Do. 

 Do. 

 Do. 



Do. . 

 Do. 

 Do. 



Oreg. 



Do 



Do 



Do 





Do 





Do 





Do 





Do 





Do 





Do 





Do 





Do 





Do 





Total (12 drives) 





Average 













