Rabbits - Pesky Critters or Valuable Resources

Today, rabbits are entrenched throughout the United States primarily in the southern and central areas of our country, with scattered populations sometimes seen in our northern deserts.

Although the rabbit can be a notorious pest for some home owners - we must remember that rabbits proved useful to many American citizens especially during the depressions of the 1890's and the 1930's, as well as during periods of American conflicts such as the Civil War,  WWI and WWII. 

Trapping rabbits helped farmers and cattlemen by providing them something to eat as well as earn an extra income by selling their meat and fur.  In some cases selling rabbits became a way for many earlier farmers to help pay off their farming debts. 

Rabbits meat was fed to working dogs out in the great west and often boiled then diced only to be fed to poultry many farmers and ranchers had. 

Later, with the introduction of refrigeration frozen rabbit carcases were exported and traded internationally. Rabbit pelts were used for years in the fur trade and are still used as a primary source of material in the felt hat industry.