The Great Rabbit Scourge of 1916
A brutal winter and lack of food drives starving jackrabbits into the heart of Richland's orchards.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The severe winter has caused a scourge among the jack rabbits in and about Richland. Last fall being an exceptionally dry season, there was but little food for them in the foothills, making it necessary for them to flock to the valley to obtain sustenance. However, on account of the great fall of snow there has been practically nothing for them to eat in the lower sections and as a result the farmers in the vicinity of Fruitvale are suffering a great deal of damage to their hay in the stack. O. H. Luelloff, one of the largest ranchers in that district, reports that he has seen as many as a hundred jacks around his hay stack at one time, while he shot thirteen in five shots the other day. Mr. Luelloff states that he has found numbers of rabbits dying or dead from actual starvation and that all those he has killed have been nothing but skin and bones. These jack rabbits have always been more or less of a nuisance and a menace to crops in the Richland district, and farmers and sportsmen usually conduct systematic rabbit drives. This year, the danger to crops is lessened on account of the great number of these pests daily being removed by lack of food.
“He has seen as many as a hundred jacks around his hay stack at one time while he shot thirteen in five shots.”
Ecological volatility has long defined the Mid-Columbia basin. While modern agriculture uses different methods to control pests, the 1916 struggle reflects the recurring tension between local wildlife and the irrigation-fed crops that define Richland's economy.
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