386* THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



developing marvelous action in a continuous 

 1 inch series of rapid, low stretching leaps, with cars 



1 lying flat along the shoulders, it skims over the 



ground almost as swiftly as a bird. Coursing 

 jack rabbits with greyhounds was for many 

 years a favorite sport in different parts of the 

 West. No Other dog has much chance for suc- 

 cess in the open pursuit of these animals. 



Ordinarily jack rabbits are mute, but when 

 wounded and caught tliev not infrequently 

 utter a series of long-drawn wailing shrieks 

 which are movingly expressive of terror and 

 pain. 



Since the settlement of the Western States 

 numberless predatory animals have been killed 

 and at the same time the cultivation of the soil 

 has produced a dependable increase in the food 

 supply. These changes have resulted in the 

 sporadic increase of jack rabbits in many parts 

 of their range, from Texas to Oregon, until at 

 times they have become a serious menace to 

 agriculture. 



During such periods of abundance they in- 

 vade fields and devastate grain, forage crops, 

 vineyards, and young orchards. In places they 

 sometimes actually destroy entire crops and 

 force settlers to abandon their locations. In 

 winter they swarm about haystacks and de- 

 -Ql. stroy many tons of hay. Depredations of this 



*!£> J2 character were committed by them on a con- 



•j4 , siderable scale during 1916 in parts of Oregon, 



O 



l 



O . Jfcl Idaho, and Utah. 



£> I to During the early development of the San 



^ -^ fJ J Joaquin Valley, California, jack rabbits became 



"^ £- such an intolerable pest that great community 



rfj j'5? drives were organized. Large woven wire cor- 



<U \ ^ rals with wing fences leading away several 



■Ho l^f miles from the entrance were built on the 



<D ' <$ i • open plains. The occasions of the drives were 



^ "*** $ i made public holidays through all the surround- 



Y* - § i n § region, and people gathered sometimes to 



^ I the number of from 5,000 to 8,000. A great 



. line of beaters was formed, miles in length, 



*" and the jack rabbits were driven between wing 



^ §f f ' fences into corrals. Four such drives in 



Fresno County in the spring of 1892 resulted in 



If f the destruction of 40,000 jack rabbits, one drive 



4 g netting more than 20,000 animals. 



At this time the level floor of the San Joa- 

 quin Valley was crossed by numberless well- 

 worn rabbit trails six or eight inches broad and 



0, >"-' one or two inches deep, extending in long 



f if fP , straight lines sometimes for miles. On ap- 



Wi 1 ' proaching a patch of large weeds one often- 



T 1 I 1 ,' ?■$.'■*« saw twenty or thirtv jack rabbits dash out and, 1 



J^CfXTdKuDil 1 if "£* after hopP in g away a short distance, sit with 



ry$ I i/} ".'-' upstanding ears to look curiously at the in- 



t •& ..'""' - : : truder. 



It is a general rule that when any species of 



THF TRAPKq nP tttt? JACK rarrtt animal becomes extremely numerous it loses 



THE TRACKS OF THE JACK RABBIT its ordinary wariness an d, conversely, when its 



The tracks of the western jack rabbit re- numbers are materially reduced its wariness is 



semble those of the cottontail (see page 390), greatly increased. The periods of abundance 



but the feet are seldom paired; a typical set of jack rabbits usually extend through several 



is seen in the lower left-hand corner. The years until, at the height of their increase, a 



bounds cover 10, 12, or even 15 feet each. contagious malady suddenly sweeps them away 



The tail is held down, so that it leaves a mark almost to the point of extinction, as in the case 



in the snow between each bound. Sometimes of the varying hare. A period of years fol- 



the animal makes a spy-hop— that is, hops up lows during which their numbers are slowly 



high to look around. This is seen in the track. recovered. 



