COMMON MAMMALS OF WESTERN MONTANA. 



43 



TRUNK WRAPPING. 



The following directions for trunk wrapping are given by Profes- 

 sor Lantz in the article just mentioned: 



Mechanical contrivances for protecting young orchard trees are many. Whore 

 protection from rabbits only is required, woven wire netting is recommended. 

 This should be made of No. 20 galvanized wire, 1-inch mesh, such as is often 

 used for poultry netting. For cottontail rabbits rolls 18 inches wide are 

 recommended,, but as a protection against jackrabbits wider material is safer. 

 The wire is cut into 1-foot lengths, and one of these sections is rolled into shape 

 about the trunk of each tree, the ends being brought together and fastened 

 at several places by means of the wire ends. No other fastening is needed. 

 The wire is not in contact with the trunk and may be left on the tree perma- 

 nently. It will probably last as long as the tree requires protection, and the 

 cost of material need not be over 1J cents for each tree. For young evergreens, 

 material of the same kind 1 foot wide and cut in li-foot lengths will give 

 excellent protection. 



If trees are to lie protected from both rabbits and mice, materials of closer 

 mesh must be used. Wire window-screen netting is excellent for the purpose, 

 and the cost, when permanence of protection is considered, is not great. 



Veneer and other forms of wood protectors are popular and have several 

 advantages. When left permanently upon the trees, however, they furnish 

 retreats for insect pests. For this reason they should be removed each spring 

 and laid away until cold weather. While the labor of removing and replacing 

 them is considerable, they have the advantage, when pressed well into the 

 soil, of protecting from both mice and rabbits. They cost from GO cents per 

 100 upward, and are much superior to building paper or newspaper wrappings. 

 The writer has known instances where rabbits tore wrappings of building 

 paper from the apple trees and in a single night injured hundreds of them. 

 " Ounnysack " and other cloth wrappings, well tied on, are effective protectors. 

 Cornstalks also furnish a cheap material for orchard protection. They are cut 

 into lengths of IS to 20 inches, split, and tied with the flat side against the 

 tree, so as fully to cover the trunk. 



POISONING RABBITS. 



Probably the most effective rabbit poison is strychnine-soaked 

 alfalfa or clover hay, prepared as recommended for meadow mice in 

 Formulas V and VI. This should be placed in rabbit runs or in other 

 places frequented by the animals, and the time chosen should be late 

 fall, winter, or early spring, when the natural food supply is at its 

 lowest. Vegetables and apples, poisoned as recommended for pocket 

 gophers in Formula VII, or by inserting crystals of strychnine sul- 

 phate in slits made with a knife, are also effective. Great care must 

 be taken to keep poisoned hay and vegetables out of reach of stock. 



RABBITS AS FOOD. 



Cottontail and snowshoe rabbits are excellent when properly 

 cooked ; and though old jack rabbits are tough and dry, the young are 

 tender and well flavored. Rabbits should always be parboiled, no 



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