EIGHTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART X, 713 



of the larger box, and the smaller box should then be inverted over it. 

 Rats thus have free access to the bait, but fowls are excluded. 



Trapping, if persistently followed, is one of the most effective methods 

 of destroying rats. 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 to be preferred. Probably those made 

 entirely of metal are the best, as they are less likely to absorb and 

 retain odors. 



In illustration of the effectiveness of traps, it may be related that a 

 year or two ago a large department store in Washington experienced 

 heavy losses of gloves, lace curtains, and other merchandise from rat 

 depredations. For several months the damage amounted to from $10 to 

 $30 nightly. After many unsuccessful attempts to abate the nuisance the 

 managers were advised to try the improved traps. As a result 136 rats 

 were killed during the first twenty nights, when the losses practically 

 ceased, and the method has been continued in. the store ever since with 

 satisfactory results. 



Guillotine traps should be baited with small pieces of Vienna sausage 

 (Wienerwurst) or bacon. The trigger wire should be bent inward to 

 bring the bait into proper position to permit the fall to strike the rat in 

 the neck. 



Other excellent baits for rats are oatmeal, toasted cheese, toasted 

 bread (buttered), and sunflower or pumpkin seeds. When seed, grain, or 

 meal is used with a guillotine trap, it may be placed on the trigger plate, 

 or the trigger wire may be bent outward and the bait sprinkled under it. 



Wire cage traps (French) also are useful for catching rats, but in the 

 long run the kinds recommended above are much more effective. While 

 trapping, all other food should be removed and the trap bait should be 

 changed often. Rats are very suspicious, and baits and traps should be 

 handled as little as possible. Increased success may be secured both in 

 trapping and poisoning if the rats are fed for a night or two with the 

 kinds of food to be used for bait. 



USE OF FERRETS AND DOGS. 



A ferret is useful for the purpose of driving rats out of burrows and 

 other hiding places so that dogs can capture them. An experienced per- 

 son with dogs and ferrets trained to work together can kill many rats 

 when they are numerous. But the amateur ferreter is likely to be greatly 

 disappointed. 



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 killed in this way, and the plan with modi- 

 fications may be utilized in America with satisfactory results. A wire 



