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diff --git a/35542.txt b/35542.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ae99451 --- /dev/null +++ b/35542.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1476 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of House Rats and Mice, by David E. Lantz + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: House Rats and Mice + Farmers' Bulletin 896 + +Author: David E. Lantz + +Release Date: March 10, 2011 [EBook #35542] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOUSE RATS AND MICE *** + + + + +Produced by Erica Pfister-Altschul, Larry B. Harrison and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + [Transcriber's Note: + + The following suspected errors have been changed in this text: + Page 6: "highdays" changed to "highways" + Page 11: "abbatoirs" changed to "abattoirs" + Page 11: Added missing "." to "FIG. 5."] + Page 14: Added missing "." to "FIG. 10."] + + + + +HOUSE RATS AND MICE + + +DAVID E. LANTZ + +Assistant Biologist + + +[Illustration] + + +FARMERS' BULLETIN 896 + +UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE + + * * * * * + +Contribution from the Bureau of Biological Survey + +E. W. NELSON, Chief + + + Washington, D. C. October, 1917 + + Show this bulletin to a neighbor. Additional copies may be obtained + free from the Division of Publications, United States Department of + Agriculture + + WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1917 + + +The rat is the worst animal pest in the world. + +From its home among filth it visits dwellings and storerooms to pollute +and destroy human food. + +It carries bubonic plague and many other diseases fatal to man and has +been responsible for more untimely deaths among human beings than all +the wars of history. + +In the United States rats and mice each year destroy crops and other +property valued at over $200,000,000. + +This destruction is equivalent to the gross earnings of an army of over +200,000 men. + +On many a farm, if the grain eaten and wasted by rats and mice could be +sold, the proceeds would more than pay all the farmer's taxes. + +The common brown rat breeds 6 to 10 times a year and produces an average +of 10 young at a litter. Young females breed when only three or four +months old. + +At this rate a pair of rats, breeding uninterruptedly and without +deaths, would at the end of three years (18 generations) be increased to +359,709,482 individuals. + +For centuries the world has been fighting rats without organization and +at the same time has been feeding them and building for them fortresses +for concealment. If we are to fight them on equal terms we must deny +them food and hiding places. We must organize and unite to rid +communities of these pests. The time to begin is now. + + + + +HOUSE RATS AND MICE. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + Page. + + Destructive habits 3 + + Protection of food and other stores 5 + Rat-proof building 5 + Keeping food from rats and mice 9 + + Destroying rats and mice 11 + Traps 11 + Poisons 15 + Domestic animals 18 + Fumigation 18 + Rat viruses 19 + Natural enemies 20 + + Organized efforts to destroy rats 20 + Community efforts 21 + State and national aid 21 + + Important repressive measures 23 + + + + +DESTRUCTIVE HABITS OF HOUSE RATS AND MICE. + + +Losses from depredations of house rats amount to many millions of +dollars yearly--to more, in fact, than those from all other injurious +mammals combined. The common house mouse[1] and the brown rat[2] (fig. +1), too familiar to need description, are pests in nearly all parts of +the country; while two other kinds of house rats, known as the black +rat[3] and the roof rat,[4] are found within our borders. + +[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Brown rat.] + +Of these four introduced species--for none is native to America--the +brown rat is the most destructive, and, except the mouse, the most +numerous and most widely distributed. Brought to America just before +the Revolution, it has supplanted and nearly exterminated its less +robust relative the black rat; and in spite of the constant warfare of +man has extended its range and steadily increased in numbers. Its +dominance is due to its great fecundity and its ability to adapt itself +to all sorts of surroundings. It breeds (in the middle part of the +United States) six or more times a year and produces from 6 to 20 young +(average 10) in a litter. Females breed when only 3 or 4 months old. +Thus a pair, breeding uninterruptedly and without deaths, could in three +years (18 generations) produce a posterity of 359,709,480 individuals. +Mice and the black and roof rats produce smaller litters, but the period +of gestation, about 21 days, and the number of litters are the same for +all. + +Rats and mice are practically omnivorous, feeding upon all kinds of +animal and vegetable matter. The brown rat makes its home in the open +field, the hedge row, and the river bank, as well as in stone walls, +piers, and all kinds of buildings. It destroys grains when newly +planted, while growing, and in the shock, stack, mow, crib, granary, +mill, elevator, or ship's hold, and also in the bin and feed trough. It +invades store and warehouse and destroys furs, laces, silks, carpets, +leather goods, and groceries. It attacks fruits, vegetables, and meats +in the markets, and destroys by pollution ten times as much as it +actually eats. It destroys eggs and young poultry, and eats the eggs and +young of song and game birds. It carries disease germs from house to +house and bubonic plague from city to city. It causes disastrous +conflagrations; floods houses by gnawing lead water pipes; ruins +artificial ponds and embankments by burrowing; and damages foundations, +floors, doors, and furnishings of dwellings. + +Unlike the brown rat the black rat rarely migrates to the fields. It has +disappeared from most parts of the Northern States, but is occasionally +found in remote villages or farms. At our seaports it frequently arrives +on ships from abroad, but seldom becomes very numerous. The roof rat is +common in many parts of the South, where it is a persistent pest in cane +and rice fields. It maintains itself against the brown rat partly +because of its habit of living in trees. The common house mouse by no +means confines its activities to the inside of buildings, but is often +found in open fields, where its depredations in shock and stack are well +known. + +Not only are mice and rats, especially the brown rat, a cause of +destruction and damage to property, but they are also a constant menace +to the health of man. It has been proved that they are the chief means +of perpetuating and transmitting bubonic plague and that they play +important roles in conveying other diseases to human beings. They are +parasites, without redeeming characteristics, and should everywhere be +routed and destroyed. + + + + +PROTECTION OF FOOD AND OTHER STORES FROM RATS AND MICE. + + +Past attempts to exterminate rats and mice have failed, not so much +because of lack of effective means as because of the neglect of +necessary precautions and the absence of concerted endeavors. We have +rendered our work abortive by continuing to provide subsistence and +hiding places for the animals. If these advantages are denied, +persistent and general use of the usual methods of destruction will +prove far more successful. + + +RAT-PROOF BUILDING. + +First in importance, as a measure of rat repression, is the exclusion of +the animals from places where they find food and safe retreats for +rearing their young. + +The best way to keep rats from buildings, whether in city or in country, +is to use cement in construction. As the advantages of this material are +coming to be generally understood, its use is rapidly extending to all +kinds of buildings. The processes of mixing and laying this material +require little skill or special knowledge, and workmen of ordinary +intelligence can successfully follow the plain directions contained in +handbooks of cement construction.[5] + +Many modern public buildings are so constructed that rats can find no +lodgment in the walls or foundations, and yet in a few years, through +negligence, such buildings often become infested with the pests. +Sometimes drain pipes are left uncovered for hours at a time. Often +outer doors, especially those opening on alleys, are left ajar. A common +mistake is failure to screen basement windows which must be opened for +ventilation. However the intruders are admitted, when once inside they +intrench themselves behind furniture or stores, and are difficult to +dislodge. The addition of inner doors to vestibules is an important +precaution against rats. The lower edge of outer doors to public +buildings, especially markets, should be reinforced with light metal +plates to prevent the animals from gnawing through. Any opening left +around water, steam, or gas pipes, where they go through walls, should +be closed carefully with concrete to the full depth of the wall. + +=Dwellings.=--In constructing dwelling houses the additional cost of +making the foundations rat-proof is slight compared with the advantages. +The cellar walls should have concrete footings, and the walls themselves +should be laid in cement mortar. The cellar floor should be of medium +rather than lean concrete. Even old cellars may be made rat-proof at +comparatively small expense. Rat holes may be permanently closed with a +mixture of cement, sand, and broken glass, or sharp bits of crockery or +stone. + +On a foundation like the one described above, the walls of a wooden +dwelling also may be made rat-proof. The space between the sheathing and +lath, to the height of about a foot, should be filled with concrete. +Rats can not then gain access to the walls, and can enter the dwelling +only through doors or windows. Screening all basement and cellar windows +with wire netting is a most necessary precaution. + +=Old buildings in cities.=--Aside from old dwellings, the chief refuges +for rats in cities are sewers, wharves, stables, and outbuildings. +Modern sewers are used by the animals merely as highways and not as +abodes, but old-fashioned brick sewers often afford nesting crannies. + +[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Rat-proofing a frame dwelling by concrete side +wall (United States Public Health Service, New Orleans, La., 1914).] + +Wharves, stables, and outbuildings in cities should be so built as to +exclude rats. Cement is the chief means to this end. Old tumble-down +buildings and wharves should not be tolerated in any city. (See fig. 2.) + +In both city and country, wooden floors of sidewalks, areas, and porches +are commonly laid upon timbers resting on the ground. Under such floors +rats have a safe retreat from nearly all enemies. The conditions can be +remedied in towns by municipal action requiring that these floors be +replaced by others made of cement. Areas or walks made of brick are +often undermined by rats and may become as objectionable as those of +wood. Wooden floors of porches should always be well above the ground. + +=Farm buildings.=--Granaries, corncribs, and poultry houses may be made +rat-proof by a liberal use of cement in the foundations and floors; or +the floors may be of wood resting upon concrete. Objection has been +urged against concrete floors for horses, cattle, and poultry, because +the material is too good a conductor of heat, and the health of the +animals suffers from contact with these floors. In poultry houses, dry +soil or sand may be used as a covering for the cement floor, and in +stables a wooden floor resting on concrete is just as satisfactory so +far as the exclusion of rats is concerned. + +The common practice of setting corncribs on posts with inverted pans at +the top often fails to exclude rats, because the posts are not high +enough to place the lower cracks of the structure beyond reach of the +animals. As rats are excellent jumpers, the posts should be tall enough +to prevent the animals from obtaining a foothold at any place within 3 +feet of the ground. A crib built in this way, however, is not very +satisfactory. + +For a rat-proof crib a well-drained site should be chosen. The outer +walls, laid in cement, should be sunk about 20 inches into the ground. +The space within the walls should be grouted thoroughly with cement and +broken stone and finished with rich concrete for a floor. Upon this the +structure may be built. Even the walls of the crib may be of concrete. +Corn will not mold in contact with them, provided there is good +ventilation and the roof is water-tight. + +However, there are cheaper ways of excluding rats from either new or old +corncribs. Rats, mice, and sparrows may be kept out effectually by the +use of either an inner or an outer covering of galvanized-wire netting +of half-inch mesh and heavy enough to resist the teeth of the rats. The +netting in common use in screening cellar windows is suitable for +covering or lining cribs. As rats can climb the netting, the entire +structure must be screened, or, if sparrows are not to be excluded, the +wire netting may be carried up about 3 feet from the ground, and above +this a belt of sheet metal about a foot in width may be tacked to the +outside of the building. + +Complete working drawings for the practical rat-proof corncrib shown in +figures 3 and 4 may be obtained from the Office of Public Roads and +Rural Engineering of the department. + +=Buildings for storing foodstuffs.=--Whenever possible, stores of food +for man or beast should be placed only in buildings of rat-proof +construction, guarded against rodents by having all windows near the +ground and all other possible means of entrance screened with netting +made of No. 18 or No. 20 wire and of 1/4-inch mesh. Entrance doors +should fit closely, should have the lower edges protected by wide strips +of metal, and should have springs attached, to insure that they shall +not be left open. Before being used for housing stores, the building +should be inspected as to the manner in which water, steam, or gas +pipes go through the walls, and any openings found around such pipes +should be closed with concrete. + +[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Perspective of rat-proof corncrib, showing +concrete foundation by dotted lines; also belt of metal.] + +If rat-proof buildings are not available, it is possible, by the use of +concrete in basements and the other precautions just mentioned, to make +an ordinary building practically safe for food storage. + +When it is necessary to erect temporary wooden structures to hold +forage, grain, or food supplies for army camps, the floors of such +buildings should not be in contact with the ground, but elevated, the +sills having a foot or more of clear space below them. Smooth posts +rising 2 or 3 feet above the ground may be used for foundations, and the +floor itself may be protected below by wire netting or sheet metal at +all places where rats could gain a foothold. Care should be taken to +have the floors as tight as possible, for it is chiefly scattered grain +and fragments of food about a camp that attract rats. + +=Rat-proofing by elevation.=--The United States Public Health Service +reports that in its campaigns against bubonic plague in San Francisco +(1907) and New Orleans (1914) many plague rats were found under the +floors of wooden houses resting on the ground. These buildings were made +rat-proof by elevation, and no case of either human or rodent plague +occurred in any house after the change. Placing them on smooth posts 18 +inches above the ground, with the space beneath the floor entirely open, +left no hiding place for rats. + +This plan is adapted to small dwellings throughout the South, and to +small summer homes, temporary structures, and small farm buildings +everywhere. Wherever rats might obtain a foothold on the top of the post +they may be prevented from gnawing the adjacent wood by tacking metal +plates or pieces of wire netting to floor or sill. + + +KEEPING FOOD FROM RATS AND MICE. + +The effect of an abundance of food on the breeding of rodents should be +kept in mind. Well-fed rats mature quickly, breed often, and have large +litters. Poorly fed rats, on the contrary, reproduce less frequently and +have smaller litters. In addition, scarcity of food makes measures for +destroying the animals far more effective. + +=Merchandise in stores.=--In all parts of the country there is a serious +economic drain in the destruction by rats and mice of merchandise held +for sale by dealers. Not only foodstuffs and forage, but textiles, +clothing, and leather goods are often ruined. This loss is due mainly to +the faulty buildings in which the stores are kept. Often it would be a +measure of economy to tear down the old structures and replace them by +new ones. However, even the old buildings may often be repaired so as to +make them practically rat-proof; and foodstuffs, as flour, seeds, and +meats, may always be protected in wire cages at slight expense. The +public should be protected from insanitary stores by a system of rigid +inspection. + +[Illustration: FIG. 4.--Floor plan of rat-proof corncrib shown in figure +3.] + +=Household supplies.=--Similar care should be exercised in the home to +protect household supplies from mice and rats. Little progress in +ridding the premises of these animals can be made so long as they have +access to supplies of food. Cellars, kitchens, and pantries often +furnish subsistence not only to rats that inhabit the dwelling, but to +many that come from outside. Food supplies may always be kept from rats +and mice if placed in inexpensive rat-proof containers covered with wire +netting. Sometimes all that is needed to prevent serious waste is the +application of concrete to holes in the basement wall or the slight +repair of a defective part of the building. + +=Produce in transit.=--Much loss of fruits, vegetables, and other +produce occurs in transit by rail and on ships. Most of the damage is +done at wharves and in railway stations, but there is also considerable +in ships' holds, especially to perishable produce brought from warm +latitudes. Much of this may be prevented by the use of rat-proof cages +at the docks, by the careful fumigation of seagoing vessels at the end +of each voyage, and by the frequent fumigation of vessels in coastwise +trade; but still more by replacing old and decrepit wharves and station +platforms with modern ones built of concrete. + +Where cargoes are being loaded or unloaded at wharves or depots, food +liable to attack by rats may be temporarily safeguarded by being placed +in rat-proof cages, or pounds, constructed of wire netting. Wooden boxes +containing reserve food held in depots for a considerable time or +intended for shipment by sea may be made rat-proof by light coverings of +metal along the angles. This plan has long been in use to protect naval +stores on ships and in warehouses. It is based on the fact that rats do +not gnaw the plane surfaces of hard materials, but attack doors, +furniture, and boxes at the angles only. + +=Packing houses.=--Packing houses and abattoirs are often sources from +which rats secure subsistence, especially where meats are prepared for +market in old buildings. In old-style cooling rooms with double walls of +wood and sawdust insulation, always a source of annoyance because of rat +infestation, the utmost vigilance is required to prevent serious loss of +meat products. On the other hand, packing houses with modern +construction and sanitary devices have no trouble from rats or mice. + +=Garbage and waste.=--Since much of the food of rats consists of garbage +and other waste materials, it is not enough to bar the animals from +markets, granaries, warehouses, and private food stores. Garbage and +offal of all kinds must be so disposed of that rats can not obtain them. + +In cities and towns an efficient system of garbage collection and +disposal should be established by ordinances. Waste from markets, +hotels, cafes and households should be collected in covered metal +receptacles and frequently emptied. Garbage should never be dumped in or +near towns, but should be utilized or promptly destroyed by fire. + +Rats find abundant food in country slaughterhouses; reform in the +management of these is badly needed. Such places are centers of rat +propagation. It is a common practice to leave offal of slaughtered +animals to be eaten by rats and swine, and this is the chief means of +perpetuating trichinae in pork. The law should require that offal be +promptly cremated or otherwise disposed of. Country slaughterhouses +should be as cleanly and as constantly inspected as abattoirs. + +Another important source of rat food is found in remnants of lunches +left by employees in factories, stores, and public buildings. This food, +which alone is sufficient to attract and sustain a small army of rats, +is commonly left in waste baskets or other open receptacles. Strictly +enforced rules requiring all remnants of food to be deposited in covered +metal vessels would make trapping far more effective. + +[Illustration: FIG. 5.--Guillotine trap made entirely of metal.] + +Military training camps, unless subjected to rigid discipline in the +matter of disposal of garbage and waste, soon become centers of rat +infestation. Waste from camps, deposited in covered metal cans and +collected daily, should be removed far from the camp itself and either +burned or utilized in approved modern ways. + + + + +DESTROYING RATS AND MICE. + + +The Biological Survey has made numerous laboratory and field experiments +with various agencies for destroying rats and mice. The results form the +chief basis for the following recommendations: + + +TRAPS. + +Owing to their cunning, it is not always easy to clear rats from +premises by trapping; if food is abundant, it is impossible. A few +adults refuse to enter the most innocent-looking trap. And yet trapping, +if persistently followed, is one of the most effective ways of +destroying the animals. + +=Guillotine trap.=--For general use the improved modern traps with a +wire fall released by a baited trigger and driven by a coiled spring +have marked advantages over the old forms, and many of them may be used +at the same time. These traps, sometimes called "guillotine" traps, are +of many designs, but the more simply constructed are preferable. +Probably those made entirely of metal are the best, as they are more +durable. Traps with tin or sheet-metal bases are not recommended. + +Guillotine traps of the type shown in figure 5 should be baited with +small pieces of Vienna sausage (Wienerwurst) or fried bacon. A small +section of an ear of corn is an excellent bait if other grain is not +present. The trigger wire should be bent inward to bring the bait into +proper position for the fall to strike the rat in the neck, as shown in +figure 6. + +Other excellent baits for rats and mice are oatmeal, toasted cheese, +toasted bread (buttered), fish, fish offal, fresh liver, raw meat, pine +nuts, apples, carrots, and corn, and sunflower, squash, or pumpkin +seeds. Broken fresh eggs are good bait at all seasons, and ripe +tomatoes, green cucumbers, and other fresh vegetables are very tempting +to the animals in winter. When seed, grain, or meal is used with a +guillotine trap, it is put on the trigger plate, or the trigger wire may +be bent outward and the bait placed directly under it. + +Oatmeal (rolled oats) is recommended as a bait for guillotine traps made +with wooden base and trigger plate (fig. 7). These traps are especially +convenient to use on ledges or other narrow rat runs or at the openings +of rat burrows. They are often used without bait. + +[Illustration: FIG. 6.--Method of baiting guillotine trap.] + +A common mistake in trapping for rats and mice is to use only one or two +traps when dozens are needed. For a large establishment hundreds of +traps may be used to advantage, and a dozen is none too many for an +ordinary barn or dwelling infested with rats. House mice are less +suspicious than rats and are much more easily trapped. Small guillotine +traps baited with oatmeal will soon rid an ordinary dwelling of the +smaller pests. + +=Cage trap.=--When rats are abundant, the large French wire cage traps +may be used to advantage. They should be made of stiff wire, well +reinforced. Many of those sold in stores are useless, because a +full-grown rat can bend the light wires apart and so escape. + +[Illustration: FIG. 7.--Guillotine trap with wooden base and trigger +plate.] + +Cage traps may be baited and left open for several nights until the rats +are accustomed to enter them to obtain food. They should then be closed +and freshly baited, when a larger catch may be expected, especially of +young rats (fig. 8). As many as 25, and even more, partly grown rats +have been taken at a time in one of these traps. It is better to cover +the trap than to leave it exposed. A short board should be laid on the +trap and an old cloth or bag or a bunch of hay or straw thrown +carelessly over the top. Often the trap may be placed with the entrance +opposite a rat hole and fitting it so closely that rats can not pass +through without entering the trap. If a single rat is caught it may be +left in the trap as a decoy to others. + +Notwithstanding the fact that sometimes a large number of rats may be +taken at a time in cage traps, a few good guillotine traps intelligently +used will prove more effective in the long run. + +[Illustration: FIG. 8.--Cage trap with catch of rats.] + +=Figure-4 trigger trap.=--The old-fashioned box trap set with a +figure-4 trigger is sometimes useful to secure a wise old rat that +refuses to be enticed into a modern trap. Better still is a simple +deadfall--a flat stone or a heavy plank--supported by a figure-4 +trigger. An old rat will go under such a contrivance to feed without +fear. + +=Steel trap.=--The ordinary steel trap (No. 0 or 1) may sometimes be +satisfactorily employed to capture a rat. The animal is usually caught +by the foot, and its squealing has a tendency to frighten other rats. +The trap may be set in a shallow pan or box and covered with bran or +oats, care being taken to have the space under the trigger pan free of +grain. This may be done by placing a very little cotton under the +trigger and setting as lightly as possible. In a narrow run or at the +mouth of a burrow a steel trap unbaited and covered with very light +cloth or tissue paper is often effective. + +[Illustration: FIG. 9.--Barrel trap: 1, With stiff paper cover; 2, with +hinged barrel cover; _a_, stop; _b_, baits.] + +The best bait usually is food of a kind that the rats and mice do not +get in the vicinity. In a meat market, vegetables or grain should be +used; in a feed store, meat. As far as possible food other than the bait +should be inaccessible while trapping is in progress. The bait should be +kept fresh and attractive, and the kind changed when necessary. Baits +and traps should be handled as little as possible. + +[Illustration: FIG. 10--Pit trap. _aa_, Rat run; _bb_, cover; _cc_, +position of weights; _dd_, rods on which covers turn.] + +=Barrel trap.=--About 60 years ago a writer in the Cornhill Magazine +gave details of a trap, by means of which it was claimed that 3,000 rats +were caught in a warehouse in a single night. The plan involved tolling +the rats to the place and feeding them for several nights on the tops of +barrels covered with coarse brown paper. Afterwards a cross was cut in +the paper, so that the rats fell into the barrel (fig. 9 (1)). Many +variations of the plan, but few improvements upon it, have been +suggested by agricultural writers since that time. Reports are +frequently made of large catches of rats by means of a barrel fitted +with a light cover of wood, hinged on a rod so as to turn with the +weight of a rat (fig. 9 (2)). + +=Pit trap.=--A modification of the barrel trap is the pit trap (fig. +10). This consists of a stout narrow box sunk in the ground so that the +top is level with the rat run. It is fixed with a cover of light wood or +metal in two sections, the sections fitting nicely inside the box and +working independently. They turn on rods, to which they are fastened. +They are weighted near the ends of the box and so adjusted that they +swing easily. An animal stepping upon the cover beyond the rods is +precipitated into the box, while the cover immediately swings back to +its place. Besides rats, the trap is well adapted to capture larger +animals, as minks, raccoons, opossums, and cats. It is especially useful +to protect poultry yards, game preserves, and the like. The trap should +be placed along the fence outside the yard, and behind a shelter of +boards or brush that leans against the fence. + +=Fence and battue.=--In the rice fields of the Far East the natives +build numerous piles of brush and rice straw, and leave them for several +days until many rats have taken shelter in them. A portable bamboo +inclosure several feet in height is then set up around each pile in +succession and the straw and brush are thrown out over the top, while +dogs and men kill the trapped rodents. Large numbers are destroyed in +this way, and the plan with modifications may be utilized in America +with satisfactory results. A wire netting of fine mesh may be used for +the inclosure. The scheme is applicable at the removal of grain, straw, +or haystacks, as well as brush piles. + +In a large barn near Washington, a few years ago, piles of unhusked corn +were left in the loft and were soon infested with rats. A wooden pen was +set down surrounding the piles in turn and the corn thrown out until +dogs were able to get at the rats. In this way several men and dogs +killed 500 rats in a single day. + + +POISONS. + +While the use of poison is the best and quickest way to get rid of rats +and mice, the odor from the dead animals makes the method impracticable +in occupied houses. Poisons may be effectively used in barns, stables, +sheds, cribs, and other outbuildings. + +=Caution.=--In the United States there are few laws which prohibit the +laying of poisons on lands owned or controlled by the poisoner. Hence it +is all the more necessary to exercise extreme caution to prevent +accidents. In several States notice of intention to lay poison must be +given to persons living in the neighborhood. Poison for rats should +never be placed in open or unsheltered places. This applies particularly +to strychnin or arsenic on meat. _Packages containing poisons should +always bear a warning label and should not be kept where children might +reach them._ + +Among the principal poisons that have been recommended for killing rats +and mice are barium carbonate, strychnin, arsenic, phosphorus, and +squills. + +=Barium carbonate.=--One of the cheapest and most effective poisons for +rats and mice is barium carbonate. This mineral has the advantage of +being without taste or smell. It has a corrosive action on the mucous +lining of the stomach and is dangerous to larger animals if taken in +sufficient quantity. In the small doses fed to rats and mice it would be +harmless to domestic animals. Its action upon rats is slow, and if exit +is possible the animals usually leave the premises in search of water. +For this reason the poison may frequently, though not always, be used in +houses without disagreeable consequences. + +Barium carbonate may be fed in the form of dough composed of four parts +of meal or flour and one part of the mineral. A more convenient bait is +ordinary oatmeal with about one-eighth of its bulk of the mineral, mixed +with water into a stiff dough. A third plan is to spread the barium +carbonate upon fish, toasted bread (moistened), or ordinary bread and +butter. The prepared bait should be placed in rat runs, about a +teaspoonful at a place. If a single application of the poison fails to +kill or drive away all rats from the premises, it should be repeated +with a change of bait. + +=Strychnin.=--Strychnin is too rapid in action to make its use for rats +desirable in houses, but elsewhere it may be employed effectively. +Strychnia sulphate is the best form to use. The dry crystals may be +inserted in small pieces of raw meat, Vienna sausage, or toasted cheese, +and these placed in rat runs or burrows; or oatmeal may be moistened +with a strychnin sirup and small quantities laid in the same way. + +Strychnin sirup is prepared as follows: Dissolve a half ounce of +strychnia sulphate in a pint of boiling water; add a pint of thick sugar +sirup and stir thoroughly. A smaller quantity may be prepared with a +proportional quantity of water and sirup. In preparing the bait it is +necessary to moisten all the oatmeal with the sirup. Wheat and corn are +excellent alternative baits. The grain should be soaked overnight in the +strychnin sirup. + +=Arsenic.=--Arsenic is probably the most popular of the rat poisons, +owing to its cheapness, yet our experiments prove that, measured by the +results obtained, arsenic is dearer than strychnin. Besides, arsenic is +extremely variable in its effect upon rats, and if the animals survive a +first dose it is very difficult to induce them to take another. + +Powdered white arsenic (arsenious acid) may be fed to rats in almost any +of the baits mentioned under barium carbonate and strychnin. It has been +used successfully when rubbed into fresh fish or spread on buttered +toast. Another method is to mix twelve parts by weight of corn meal and +one part of arsenic with whites of eggs into a stiff dough. + +An old formula for poisoning rats and mice with arsenic is the +following, adapted from an English source: + +Take a pound of oatmeal, a pound of coarse brown sugar, and a spoonful +of arsenic. Mix well together and put the composition into an earthen +jar. Put a tablespoonful at a place in runs frequented by rats. + +=Phosphorus.=--For poisoning rats and mice, phosphorus is used almost as +commonly as arsenic, and undoubtedly it is effective when given in an +attractive bait. The phosphorus paste of the drug stores is usually +dissolved yellow phosphorus, mixed with glucose or other substances. The +proportion of phosphorus varies from one-fourth of 1 per cent to 4 per +cent. The first amount is too small to be always effective and the last +is dangerously inflammable. When homemade preparations of phosphorus are +used there is much danger of burning the person or of setting fire to +crops or buildings. In the Western States many fires have resulted from +putting out homemade phosphorus poisons for ground squirrels, and entire +fields of ripe grain have been destroyed in this way. Even with +commercial pastes the action of sun and rain changes the phosphorus and +leaches out the glucose until a highly inflammable residue is left. + +It is often claimed that phosphorus eaten by rats or mice dries up or +mummifies the body so that no odor results. The statement has no +foundation in fact. No known poison will prevent decomposition of the +body of an animal that died from its effects. Equally misleading is the +statement that rats poisoned with phosphorus do not die on the premises. +Owing to its slower operation, no doubt a larger portion escape into the +open before dying than when strychnin is used. + +The Biological Survey does not recommend the use of phosphorus as a +poison for rodents. + +=Squills.=--The squill, or sea leek,[6] is a favorite rat poison in many +parts of Europe and is well worthy of trial in America. It is rapid and +very deadly in its action, and rats seem to eat it readily. The poison +is used in several ways. Two ounces of dry squills, powdered, may be +thoroughly mixed with eight ounces of toasted cheese or of butter and +meal and put out in runs of rats or mice. Another formula recommends two +parts of squills to three parts of finely chopped bacon, mixed with meal +enough to make it cohere. This is baked in small cakes. + +=Poison in poultry houses.=--For poisoning rats in buildings and yards +occupied by poultry the following method is recommended: Two wooden +boxes should be used, one considerably larger than the other and each +having one or more holes in the sides large enough to admit rats. The +poisoned bait should be placed on the bottom and near the middle of the +smaller box, and the larger box should then be inverted over it. Rats +thus have free access to the bait, but fowls are excluded. + + +DOMESTIC ANIMALS. + +Among domestic animals employed to kill rats are the dog, the cat, and +the ferret. + +=Dogs.=--The value of dogs as ratters can not be appreciated by persons +who have had no experience with a trained animal. The ordinary cur and +the larger breeds of dogs seldom develop the necessary qualities for +ratters. Small Irish, Scotch, and fox terriers, when properly trained, +are superior to other breeds and under favorable circumstances may be +relied upon to keep the farm premises reasonably free from rats. + +=Cats.=--However valuable cats may be as mousers, few learn to catch +rats. The ordinary house cat is too well fed and consequently too lazy +to undertake the capture of an animal as formidable as the brown rat. +Birds and mice are much more to its liking. Cats that are fearless of +rats, however, and have learned to hunt and destroy them are often very +useful about stables and warehouses. They should be lightly fed, chiefly +on milk. A little sulphur in the milk at intervals is a corrective +against the bad effects of a constant rat or mouse diet. Cats often die +from eating these rodents. + +=Ferrets.=--Tame ferrets, like weasels, are inveterate foes of rats, and +can follow the rodents into their retreats. Under favorable +circumstances they are useful aids to the rat catcher, but their value +is greatly overestimated. For effective work they require experienced +handling and the additional services of a dog or two. Dogs and ferrets +must be thoroughly accustomed to each other, and the former must be +quiet and steady instead of noisy and excitable. The ferret is used only +to bolt the rats, which are killed by the dogs. If unmuzzled ferrets are +sent into rat retreats, they are apt to make a kill and then lie up +after sucking the blood of their victim. Sometimes they remain for hours +in the burrows or escape by other exits and are lost. There is danger +that these lost ferrets may adapt themselves to wild conditions and +become a pest by preying upon poultry and birds. + + +FUMIGATION. + +Rats may be destroyed in their burrows in the fields and along river +banks, levees, and dikes by carbon bisulphid.[7] A wad of cotton or +other absorbent material is saturated with the liquid and then pushed +into the burrow, the opening being packed with earth to prevent the +escape of the gas. All animals in the burrow are asphyxiated. Fumigation +in buildings is not so satisfactory, because it is difficult to confine +the gases. Moreover, when effective, the odor from the dead rats is +highly objectionable in occupied buildings. + +Chlorin, carbon monoxid, sulphur dioxid, and hydrocyanic acid are the +gases most used for destroying rats and mice in sheds, warehouses, and +stores. Each is effective if the gas can be confined and made to reach +the retreats of the animals. Owing to the great danger from fire +incident to burning charcoal or sulphur in open pans, a special furnace +provided with means for forcing the gas into the compartments of vessels +or buildings is generally employed. + +Hydrocyanic-acid gas is effective in destroying all animal life in +buildings. It has been successfully used to free elevators and +warehouses of rats, mice, and insects. However, it is so dangerous to +human life that the novice should not attempt fumigation with it, except +under careful instructions. Directions for preparing and using the gas +may be found in a publication entitled Hydrocyanic-acid Gas against +Household Insects, by Dr. L. O. Howard and Charles H. Popenoe.[8] + +Carbon monoxid is rather dangerous, as its presence in the hold of a +vessel or other compartment is not manifest to the senses, and fatal +accidents have occurred during its employment to fumigate vessels. + +Chlorin gas has a strong bleaching action upon textile fabrics, and for +this reason can not be used in many situations. + +Sulphur dioxid also has a bleaching effect upon textiles, but less +marked than that of chlorin, and ordinarily it is not noticeable with +the small percentage of the gas it is necessary to use. On the whole, +this gas has many advantages as a fumigator and disinfectant. It is used +also as a fire extinguisher on board vessels. Special furnaces for +generating the gas and forcing it into the compartments of ships and +buildings are on the market, and many steamships and docks are now +fitted with the necessary apparatus. + + +RAT VIRUSES. + +Several microorganisms, or bacteria, found originally in diseased rats +or mice, have been exploited for destroying rats. A number of these +so-called rat viruses are on the American market. The Biological Survey, +the Bureau of Animal Industry, and the United States Public Health +Service have made careful investigations and practical tests of these +viruses, mostly with negative results. The cultures tested by the +Biological Survey have not proved satisfactory. + +The chief defects to be overcome before the cultures can be recommended +for general use are: + +1. The virulence is not great enough to kill a sufficiently high +percentage of rats that eat food containing the microorganisms. + +2. The virulence decreases with the age of the cultures. They +deteriorate in warm weather and in bright sunlight. + +3. The diseases resulting from the microorganisms are not contagious and +do not spread by contact of diseased with healthy animals. + +4. The comparative cost of the cultures is too great for general use. +Since they have no advantages over the common poisons, except that they +are usually harmless to man and other animals, they should be equally +cheap; but their actual cost is much greater. Moreover, considering the +skill and care necessary in their preparation, it is doubtful if the +cost can be greatly reduced. + +The Department of Agriculture, therefore, does not prepare, use, or +recommend the use of rat viruses. + + +NATURAL ENEMIES OF RATS AND MICE. + +Among the natural enemies of rats and mice are the larger hawks and +owls, skunks, foxes, coyotes, weasels, minks, dogs, cats, and ferrets. + +Probably the greatest factor in the increase of rats, mice, and other +destructive rodents in the United States has been the persistent killing +off of the birds and mammals that prey upon them. Animals that on the +whole are decidedly beneficial, since they subsist upon harmful insects +and rodents, are habitually destroyed by some farmers and sportsmen +because they occasionally kill a chicken or a game bird. + +The value of carnivorous mammals and the larger birds of prey in +destroying rats and mice should be more fully recognized, especially by +the farmer and the game preserver. Rats actually destroy more poultry +and game, both eggs and young chicks, than all the birds and wild +mammals combined; yet some of their enemies among our most useful birds +of prey and carnivorous mammals are persecuted almost to the point of +extinction. An enlightened public sentiment should cause the repeal of +all bounties on these animals and afford protection to the majority of +them. + + + + +ORGANIZED EFFORTS TO DESTROY RATS. + + +The necessity of cooperation and organization in the work of rat +destruction is of the utmost importance. To destroy all the animals on +the premises of a single farmer in a community has little permanent +value, since they are soon replaced from near-by farms. If, however, the +farmers of an entire township or county unite in efforts to get rid of +rats, much more lasting results may be attained. If continued from year +to year, such organized efforts are very effective. + + +COMMUNITY EFFORTS. + +Cooperative efforts to destroy rats have taken various forms in +different localities. In cities, municipal employees have occasionally +been set at work hunting rats from their retreats, with at least +temporary benefit to the community. Thus, in 1904, at Folkestone, +England, a town of about 25,000 inhabitants, the corporation employees, +helped by dogs, in three days killed 1,645 rats. + +Side hunts in which rats are the only animals that count in the contest +have sometimes been organized and successfully carried out. At New +Burlington, Ohio, a rat hunt took place some years ago in which each of +the two sides killed over 8,000 rats, the beaten party serving a banquet +to the winners. + +There is danger that organized rat hunts will be followed by long +intervals of indifference and inaction. This may be prevented by +offering prizes covering a definite period of effort. Such prizes +accomplish more than municipal bounties, because they secure a friendly +rivalry which stimulates the contestants to do their utmost to win. + +In England and some of its colonies contests for prizes have been +organized to promote the destruction of the English, or house, sparrow, +but many of the so-called sparrow clubs are really sparrow and rat +clubs, for the destruction of both pests is the avowed object of the +organizations. A sparrow club in Kent, England, accomplished the +destruction of 28,000 sparrows and 16,000 rats in three seasons by the +annual expenditure of but L6 ($29.20) in prize money. Had ordinary +bounties been paid for this destruction, the tax on the community would +have been about L250 (over $1,200). + +Many organizations already formed should be interested in destroying +rats. Boards of trade, civic societies, and citizens' associations in +towns and farmers' and women's clubs in rural communities will find the +subject of great importance. Women's municipal leagues in several large +cities already have taken up the matter. The league in Baltimore +recently secured appropriations of funds for expenditure in fighting +mosquitoes, flies, and rats. The league in Boston during the past year, +supported by voluntary contributions for the purpose, made a highly +creditable educational campaign against rats. Boys' corn clubs, the +troops of Boy Scouts, and similar organizations could do excellent work +in rat campaigns. + + +STATE AND NATIONAL AID. + +To secure permanent results any general campaign for the elimination of +rats must aim at _building the animals out of shelter and food_. +Building reforms depend on municipal ordinances and legislative +enactments. The recent plague eradication work of the United States +Public Health Service in San Francisco, Seattle, New Orleans, and at +various places in Hawaii and Porto Rico required such ordinances and +laws as well as financial aid in prosecuting the work. The campaign of +Danish and Swedish organizations for the destruction of rats had the +help of governmental appropriations. The legislatures of California, +Texas, Indiana, and Hawaii have in recent years passed laws or made +appropriations to aid in rat riddance. It is probable that +well-organized efforts of communities would soon win legislative support +everywhere. Communities should not postpone efforts, however, while +waiting for legislative cooperation, but should at once organize and +begin repressive operations. Wherever health is threatened the Public +Health Service of the United States can cooperate, and where crops and +other products are endangered the Bureau of Biological Survey of the +Department of Agriculture is ready to assist by advice and in +demonstration of methods. + + + + +IMPORTANT REPRESSIVE MEASURES. + + +The measures needed for repressing and eliminating rats and mice include +the following: + +1. The requirement that all new buildings erected shall be made +rat-proof under competent inspection. + +2. That all existing rat-proof buildings shall be closed against rats +and mice by having all openings accessible to the animals, from +foundation to roof, closed or screened by door, window, grating, or +meshed wire netting. + +3. That all buildings not of rat-proof construction shall be made so by +remodeling, by the use of materials that may not be pierced by rats, or +by elevation. + +4. The protection of our native hawks, owls, and smaller predatory +mammals--the natural enemies of rats. + +5. Greater cleanliness about markets, grocery stores, warehouses, +courts, alleys, stables, and vacant lots in cities and villages, and +like care on farms and suburban premises. This includes the storage of +waste and garbage in tightly covered vessels and the prompt disposal of +it each day. + +6. Care in the construction of drains and sewers, so as not to provide +entrance and retreat for rats. Old brick sewers in cities should be +replaced by concrete or tile. + +7. The early threshing and marketing of grains on farms, so that stacks +and mows shall not furnish harborage and food for rats. + +8. Removal of outlying straw stacks and piles of trash or lumber that +harbor rats in fields and vacant lots. + +9. The keeping of provisions, seed grain, and foodstuffs in rat-proof +containers. + +10. Keeping effective rat dogs, especially on farms and in city +warehouses. + +11. The systematic destruction of rats, whenever and wherever possible, +by (_a_) trapping, (_b_) poisoning, and (_c_) organized hunts. + +12. The organization of clubs and other societies for systematic warfare +against rats. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _Mus musculus._ + +[2] _Rattus norvegicus._ + +[3] _Rattus rattus rattus._ + +[4] _Rattus rattus alexandrinus._ + +[5] Farmers' Bulletin 461, Use of Concrete on the Farm, will prove +useful to city and village dwellers as well as to the farmer. + +[6] _Scilla maritima._ + +[7] CAUTION.--Carbon disulphid is very inflammable and can be ignited by +a match, lantern, cigar, or pipe. + +[8] Farmers' Bulletin 699. + + + + +PUBLICATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE RELATING TO +NOXIOUS MAMMALS. + + +AVAILABLE FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION. + + How to Destroy Rats. (Farmers' Bulletin 369.) + + The Common Mole of Eastern United States. (Farmers' Bulletin 583.) + + Field Mice as Farm and Orchard Pests. (Farmers' Bulletin 670.) + + Cottontail Rabbits in Relation to Trees and Farm Crops. (Farmers' + Bulletin 702.) + + Trapping Moles and Utilizing Their Skins. (Farmers' Bulletin 832.) + + Destroying Rodent Pests on the Farm. (Separate 708, Yearbook for + 1916.) + + +FOR SALE BY THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS, GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, +WASHINGTON, D. C. + + Harmful and Beneficial Mammals of the Arid Interior, with Special + Reference to the Carson and Humboldt Valleys, Nevada. (Farmers' + Bulletin 335.) Price 5 cents. + + The Nevada Mouse Plague of 1907-8. (Farmers' Bulletin 352.) Price 5 + cents. + + Some Common Mammals of Western Montana in Relation to Agriculture + and Spotted Fever. (Farmers' Bulletin 484.) Price 5 cents. + + Danger of Introducing Noxious Animals and Birds. (Separate 132, + Yearbook 1898.) Price 5 cents. + + Meadow Mice in Relation to Agriculture and Horticulture. (Separate + 388, Yearbook 1905.) Price 5 cents. + + Mouse Plagues, Their Control and Prevention. (Separate 482, Yearbook + 1908.) Price--cents. + + Use of Poisons for Destroying Noxious Mammals. (Separate 491, + Yearbook 1908.) Price 5 cents. + + Pocket Gophers as Enemies of Trees. (Separate 506, Yearbook 1909.) + Price 5 cents. + + The Jack Rabbits of the United States. (Biological Survey Bulletin + 8.) Price 10 cents. + + Economic Study of Field Mice, genus _Microtus_. (Biological Survey + Bulletin 31.) Price 15 cents. + + The Brown Rat in the United States. (Biological Survey Bulletin 33.) + Price 15 cents. + + Directions for the Destruction of Wolves and Coyotes. (Biological + Survey Circular 55.) Price 5 cents. + + The California Ground Squirrel. (Biological Survey Circular 76.) + Price 5 cents. + + Seed-eating Mammals in Relation to Reforestation. (Biological Survey + Circular 78.) Price 5 cents. + + Mammals of Bitterroot Valley, Montana, in Their Relation to Spotted + Fever. (Biological Survey Circular 82.) Price 5 cents. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of House Rats and Mice, by David E. Lantz + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOUSE RATS AND MICE *** + +***** This file should be named 35542.txt or 35542.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/5/4/35542/ + +Produced by Erica Pfister-Altschul, Larry B. Harrison and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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