388 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



for the door; 22 inches of wire for the trigger; four small staples for 

 hanging the door and trigger; and nails. (See fig. 34.) 



POISONING RABI5ITS. 



In the West, poison for destroying rabbits has been resorted to 

 with some success. The most favorable season for its use is in 

 winter, or after long-continued drought has made green food scarce. 

 In summer and early autumn grasshoppers and crickets interfere 

 greatly with poisoning operations by consuming the baits put out 

 for rabbits. The methods of poisoning rabbits here given are the 

 ones best adapted for general use: Crystals of strychnia sulphate 

 may be inserted in ripe prunes, pieces of melon rind, or apples, and 

 these placed at intervals along rabbit runs or paths, care being 

 taken to put them where children and domestic animals do not have 



Fig. 34. — Details of Wellhouse rabbit trap. 



access to them. Where no well-defined runs are visible in orchards, 

 artificial ones ma}^ easily be made with a drag or with a one-horse 

 scraper. Along such runs or the dead furrows of plowed fields rab- 

 bits habitually travel. The prepared baits may be placed on the 

 ground or elevated on short sticks at intervals along the path. Baits 

 should be looked after with care, and if any are left after poisoning- 

 operations are over they should be destroyed. 



When grasshoppers are not numerous oatmeal soaked in a well- 

 sweetened solution of strychnia is an excellent bait for rabbits. Dur- 

 ing seasons of drought, poisoned water lias been used successfully to 

 destroy rabbits. Water containing arsenic or strychnine is placed in 

 shallow vessels and exposed along the runs. This method has been 

 practiced in Australia, but the danger of poisoning birds is a serious 

 objection, unless the poisoned water is put out at dark and removed 

 or covered at daylight. 



