RAT- CONTROL 

 METHODS 



INTRODUCTION 



Modern rat-control methods 

 are less a matter of startling new 

 techniques than thorough appli- 

 cation of all principles involved. 

 Merely destroying a few rats here 

 and there does not begin to solve 

 the problem, for man has been 

 killing rats for centuries without 

 halting the spreading of these ob- 

 noxious pests. Fortunately, we 

 are becoming more and more 

 aware of the deadly effect rats 

 have upon our everyday existence. 

 In thus becoming more rat con- 

 scious, we have an ever-increas- 



ing possibility of gaining control 

 of one of the greatest spreaders 

 of disease, death, and destruction 

 the world has ever known (fig. 1) . 

 Permanent control is the only 

 satisfactory solution of the rat 

 problem. Sporadic campaigns to 

 destroy rats, although often ef- 

 fective in reducing the numbers 

 for a short period, must be re- 

 peated again and again, with little 

 likelihood of achieving long-last- 

 ing results. Any program, to be 

 successful, must incorporate these 

 four major phases of control : De- 



Figure I. — The house rat — spreader of destruction, disease, and death. 



