The Messed Up Truth Of The Dust Bowl

May 2024 · 2 minute read

Not everyone struggled during the Dust Bowl, and there was one species in particular that thrived: the jackrabbit. Farmers clearing land for crops had also succeeded in removing many of the predators that kept the whole system in balance, says Gizmodo, and considering each rabbit can have up to eight babies every 32 days, it wasn't long before there were literal tons of rabbits covering the plains.

According to the Kansas Historical Society, in 1935 one paper estimated that across just 30 counties in Kansas, there were around 8 million rabbits. They traveled quickly, they ate a ton of crops, and various attempts were made to get rid of them. One country offered bounties on them — when the head count reached 44,000, they couldn't afford to pay anymore. There were too many rabbits to shoot, and here's where things get really disturbing. Citizens started holding "Jackrabbit Drives," which were basically events that would attract hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of people, who would line up and march across the prairie. The idea was to scare the rabbits and herd them against lines of fencing, where they would then be clubbed to death.

Was there outrage? You betcha. Areas with no rabbit problem condemned the entire thing, and some even offered to take rabbits and relocate them. Most realized what a bad idea that was, so jackrabbit drives continued to be a thing. A horrible, terrible, thing.

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