COTTONTAIL RABBITS. 



9 



POISONING. 



Poison for killing rabbits has been used in the West with consid- 

 erable success. Only in exceptional cases, however, is its use advis- 

 able in States that protect rabbits. The most favorable season for 

 using poison is in winter or after a long drought in summer has 

 made green food scarce. In some localities summer poisoning is 

 interfered with by crickets or grasshoppers consuming the bait. 



The following method is adapted for general use: Insert crystals 

 of strychnine or powdered strychnine in pieces of apple or melon 

 rind and place these baits at intervals along rabbit runs or paths. 

 Take care to put the poisoned baits where children and do- 

 mestic animals can not get them. Where no well-defined runs 

 are visible in orchards, artificial ones may be made with a narrow 

 drag or scraper. Along such runs or the dead furrows of plowed 

 fields rabbits habitually travel. Baits may be placed on the ground 

 or elevated on short sticks along the path, and should be looked after 

 with care. Any baits left after poisoning operations are finished 

 should be destroyed. 



For poisoning rabbits in winter or during droughts the following 

 formula is recommended: Good oats, 12 quarts; powdered strych- 

 nine, 1 ounce; laundry starch, 1 tablespoonf ul ; soda (bicarbonate). 

 1 ounce; saccharine, J ounce; water, 1 quart. Mix the starch with 

 J pint of cold water. Pour this into pints of boiling water and 

 continue the boiling for a minute or two until the starch is clear. 

 Mix the dry strychnine and soda in a small pan and sift it over the 

 hot starch, stirring thoroughly to form a smooth paste. Add the 

 saccharine and stir again. Pour the mixture over the oats in a metal 

 tub, mixing until all the grain is wet. Allow the oats to dry before 

 distributing. Not over a tablespoonful of the grain should be put 

 in a single bait and this should be scattered considerably. A little 

 alfalfa hay will help attract rabbits to the poisoned grain. This 

 poison is recommended for use when snow covers the ground. It is 

 effective against both cottontails and large rabbits. 



Partly ripened heads of barley or wheat soaked in a solution of 

 strychnine and saccharine or coated with the starch-strychnine solu- 

 tion just described have also proved effective baits for rabbits, but 

 great care must be exercised in using them, as they are likely to 

 be eaten by live stock. 



Cottontail rabbits may be poisoned in winter by baiting them with 

 twigs cut from apple trees and dipped in or thinly coated with the 

 starch-strychnine poison. These twigs are scattered along rabbit 

 trails and are effective against both meadow mice and rabbits. They 

 are less dangerous to domestic animals than grain baits. 



