HUNTING.
Hunting has been the most important factor in keeping down the numbers 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 impracticable, 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 abundant. Cottontails are often chased with foxhounds, but the beagle is rapidly taking precedence as a favorite for hunting these animals, the gun being used to secure the game.
Where the country is sufficiently open for the purpose, the organized hunt, in which everyone who owns a gun is supposed 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.