I decided to do further research on the Jackrabbit Drives because the Dust Bowl during the great depression fascinates me. I was further interested in it after reading Allison Wang's post about the Causes and Effects of the Dust Bowl.
As the Dust Bowl continued into the mid-1930s, a new threat arose from the failing crops and drying land. Beyond the drought that had dried the farmer's crops and the falling grain prices due to the Great Depression, there were now jackrabbits. The drought combined with the continued expansion into the plains by farmers in search for more land had driven jackrabbits in search of new homes and food sources. The failing crops were the last source of much of anything green or living left on the plains and jackrabbits began flocking to them by the millions.
Desolation of the dust bowl
An average jackrabbit could do about ten dollars of damage to crops in a normal year. In a drought year, that number was expected to be much higher with the drought worsening in the mid 1930s. The rabbits would dig up the roots of many plants, killing them completely and destroying whole crops for good rather than just damaging them. A rabbit would normally eat just what showed above the surface of the plant, rather than digging the whole thing up. Accounts say that the rabbits also resorted to eating tree bark to survive. The starving rabbits were disastrous to farmers’ crops, they wreaked destruction and havoc and left nothing edible in their wake.
Early rabbit drive
It is estimated that over two million rabbits were killed in these drives. Rabbit drives were federally funded and sponsored. The wire enclosures, wire fencing and the means of transportation for relocating the rabbits were part of programs to help farmers and their crops. Hundreds of thousands of rabbits were relocated to states that were deemed to be “lacking” in jackrabbits. However, the greater majority were not as lucky. The rabbits, by the thousands, would be driven, often from circles stretching over a mile wide at the start, to a small circle where they would be clubbed, shot, or put in trucks to be relocated. Men, women, and children would all participate using wire fences and whatever else they could to drive the rabbits towards the center of the circle. Early rabbit drives were hosted often as town events with up to several dozen people (sometimes even a few hundred) and the rabbits would be killed with shotguns as they were quick and effective. But with the hunts growing in the later years, shotguns became too dangerous for the large crowds of thousands that would come on the drives. Clubs and stones were used to kill the rabbits after they were corralled.
Later rabbit drive
Jackrabbits did provide food for both people and animals in the desperate times. A rabbit pelt could be sold for a few cents and their meat was plenty edible for people and as both chicken and hog feed.
Jackrabbit drive: video
Sources:
Very interesting post! I had no idea this existed. I found it interesting how on one hand some jackrabbits were relocated rather than killed, but most were killed in very inhumane ways. This is an interesting contrast. I wonder if the near-extinction of the Plains Buffalo affected the hunting practices of Jackrabbits.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post on jackrabbit drives! I'm honored to have helped peak your interest in this topic. Like Michael said, it is really interesting how some of the jackrabbits were relocated instead of killed. Could this possibly have been a cause of progressive environmental conservation? And could the fact that most rabbits were killed be because of the fading of progressivism of this time? For more information on the fates of these jackrabbits, go to: https://charmstrongbooks.com/2015/08/18/jackrabbits-the-plague-of-the-dust-bowl/
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