The Great Jack Rabbit Drives of the 1930’s

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Sometimes you look back in history and certain events are just unbelievable. The rabbit drives of the 1930s are one of them. The drives were a result of the 1930’s dust bowl that ravaged the Great Plains. Over-farming combined with severe drought caused the topsoil to dry out and blow away during heavy winds. The result was a desolate landscape. With nothing to eat large numbers of Jack Rabbit descended on to the reaming farmland and began to wreak havoc.

Here is an excerpt from The History Engine put out by Richmond University: In an effort to control the rapidly increasing numbers of the jack-rabbits, whole communities came together and began to organize large parties in which the jack-rabbits would be systematically eliminated. Initially, they used shotguns, but this became dangerous due to a large number of people that turned out to these “hunts”. Eventually, it was decided that they would use clubs to avoid further injuries.

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