Wednesday, January 13, 2021

The great competitive bunny hunt of 1881

Should you wonder how our forbears amused themselves during long-ago January days, here's one example from The Chariton Leader of Jan. 29, 1881. 

The villages involved were neighbors, Belinda in northeast Lucas County and Columbia and Gosport, just across the Marion county line to the north.

More than 600 bunnies died in the slaughter, but as any gardener can tell you, there still are plenty to go around.

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Some of the natives of Columbia went out a few weeks ago in the suburbs of the town and slaughtered sixty or seventy rabbits in the course of an hour or two, and then had the impunity to blow about it.

The natives of Gosport heard of it and got on their ear, and the natives of Belinda heard of it and grew intensely indignant at the idea of blowing over such a trifle.

Accordingly a few days ago the natives of all three of those places resolved in separate conventions that the dignity and enterprise of the aforesaid villages must be maintained and vindicated, and straightway each town sent forth its mightiest hunters to battle the rabbits.

The results at night stood, Belinda 219 rabbits, Gosport 205, and Columbia 196, and now the pride of Columbia is humbled and rabbits in her suburbs are not so numerous as they were, but her natives have plenty of meat by way of a change.


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