176 



THE GAME BREEDER 



ever possible. In the absence of such 

 natural enemies, rabbits, as well as rats 

 and mice, often become a menace to val- 

 uable crops. Indiscriminate slaughter of 

 carnivorous birds and mammals should 

 be suppressed whenever rodent pests are 

 to be controlled.. 



Hunting has been the most important 

 factor in keeping down the unmbers of 

 rabbits in America. In some parts of 

 the country the animals have been so 

 reduced in numbers by shooting that 

 sportsmen have invoked legislation to 

 prevent their extermination. Shooting is 

 undoubtedly the best method for hunting 

 this animal. Ferreting is often imprac- 

 ticable, since our native rabbits do not 

 habitually burrow; besides, the use of 

 ferrets is forbidden by law in many 

 states that protect the rabbit. Coursing 

 with greyhounds is popular in the west, 

 where the swifter jack rabbits are abun- 

 dant. Cottontails are often chased with 

 foxhounds, but the beagle is rapidly tak- 

 ing precedence as a favorite for hunting 

 these animals, the gun being used to se- 

 cure the game. 



Where the country is sufficiently open 

 for the purpose, the organized hunt, in 

 which everyone who owns a gun is sup- 

 posed to take part, is a good means of 

 reducing the number of rabbits. These 

 organized hunts are popular in the west,_ 

 where they are also varied, in the case 

 of jack rabbits, by what is known as 

 the "rabbit drive." A large territory is 

 surrounded by men and the animals are 

 driven into a corral built of wire netting. 

 While a few cottontails are sometimes 

 included in the catch, these usually find 

 refuge in open burrows or under cover 

 of rocks or brush, so that this method is 

 hardly applicable to them. 



Rabbits are easily trapped or snared, 

 and while these methods of taking them 

 are slow, they are always feasible when 

 cottontails infest woodlot, orchard, nur- 

 sery, field or garden. Many are caught 

 in old-fashioned box traps set with a fig- 

 ure four trigger with cord attached to 

 hold up the box lid. 



An improvement on this familiar trap, 

 widely used in the middle west, and often 

 called the Wellhouse trap, is a box 21 



inches long and about 6 inches high and 

 4 inches wide (inside measurements) 

 made of 6-inch fence boards, preferably 

 old ones. The box is closed at the rear 

 and has a wire door in front which, 

 swings inward from the top, a cleat at 

 the bottom preventing its opening out- 

 ward. The trap is set and the wire door 

 kept open by a wire trigger-rod held in 

 place by two staples in the top of the 

 box. The trigger-rod is bent downward 

 into a loop or figure 8 near the rear of the 

 trap. As the rabbit enters the trap and 

 crowds into the back part it presses 

 against the loop, moves the trigger-rod 

 backward and is imprisoned as the wire 

 door is released and falls. Bait may be 

 used but is unnecessary, since cottontails 

 frequently take refuge in dark places 

 from enemies or inclement weather. 



The materials needed for making a 

 Wellhouse trap are : Four boards 1 by 6, 

 21 inches long, for the sides ; a piece 1 

 by 6, 8 inches long, for the back ; a small 

 cleat for the door stop ; 28^4 inches of 

 wire for the door ; 22 inches of wire for 

 the trigger; 4 small staples for hanging 

 the door and trigger ; and nails. 



Mr. J. M. Walmsley recently sent to 

 the department photographs and a de- 

 scription of a permanent rabbit trap 

 made of sewer tile and used on his and 

 other forms in Kansas. A 12 by 

 6 inch "tee" is set with the long end 

 downward and buried so that the 6-inch 

 opening is below the surface of the 

 ground. Two lengths of 6-inch sewer 

 pipe are then connected horizontally with 

 the opening. Soil is placed over the 

 joints to exclude light. The upright tile 

 should be fitted with a tight removable 

 cover — Mr. Walmsley uses old harrow 

 disks for the purpose. The projecting 

 end of the small tile is surrounded with 

 rocks, brush or wood, so as to make the 

 hole look inviting to rabbits, and that 

 they may appropriate the den as a place 

 of concealment and shelter. A number 

 of these traps in various places, and es- 

 pecially in the vicinity of the orchard, 

 have kept Mr. Walmsley 's farm com- 

 paratively free of rabbits. Rabbits oc- 

 cupy these tile traps, go in or out at will, 

 and may be captured when desired.. 

 Whenever Mr. Walmsley visits his traps. 



