cepted by rats. It possesses all 

 the hazards of ten-eighty, and in 

 addition it is cumulative and is 

 capable of being absorbed through 

 the skin. Operators handling 

 'thallium sulphate should always 

 wear gloves. Its use should be 

 restricted to trained technicians. 



PREPARATION OF BAITS 



Rats are omnivorous; that is, 

 they will eat almost any kind of 

 food available. Like human be- 

 ings, some individual rats have 

 definite preferences which must 

 be catered to, but, generally speak- 

 ing, bait materials consist of ce- 

 reals, meats, fish, cheese, fruits, 

 and vegetables. Any or all of 

 these may be acceptable at any 

 given time. Often a change in the 

 kind of food ofi'ered will produce 

 the greatest success. If the rats 

 have been eating poultry feed, 

 baits with a meat or a fish base 

 may yield the best results. On 

 the other hand, occasionally rats 

 will refuse to touch a food they 

 are not accustomed to eating. 

 More important than the mate- 

 rials used, however, is the proper 

 preparation of the baits. Too 

 much poison in the mixture is just 

 as harmful as too little, for ac- 

 ceptance will be cut down. If the 

 poison is not thoroughly mixed 

 with the bait material, some parts 

 of the bait will have too strong a 

 concentration of the poison, while 

 others will have too weak a one to 

 produce results. 



Bait material in small lots, up 

 to a pound or two, can be mixed 

 readily by hand, with a large 

 spoon or paddle, in a mixing bowl, 

 pail, or similar container. Articles 

 used in mixing poisons should be 

 used for that purpose only and 

 kept separate from all other uten- 

 sils. They should be labeled 

 "POISON." Larger lots of bait 

 material are more easily mixed 



mechanically. A table-model elec- 

 tric mixer will mix up to about 10 

 pounds of bait material at a time, 

 a floor model 50 pounds with ease. 

 Mechanical mixing saves labor 

 and results in a more uniform mix 

 than that produced by the hand 

 method. The ingredients should 

 be weighed carefully to insure the 

 proper proportions. No guess 

 work should be allow^ed. Only 

 enough bait for use on the same 

 day as prepared or within a 24- 

 hour period should be mixed at 

 one time. Baits are most accept- 

 able when fresh. A week's supply 

 should not be made up at one time. 



PLACEMENT OF BAITS 



Of greater importance than the 

 kind of bait used, is the proper 

 placement of the material (fig. 2) . 

 Rats seek shelter and protection 

 in their movements as far as pos- 

 sible. Baits placed in rat travel- 

 ways and harborages are far more 

 likely to be found and sampled 

 than those exposed in the open. 

 Proper placement is necessary also 

 from the standpoint of safety, if 

 children, pets, and domestic ani- 

 mals are to be protected from ex- 

 posure to the poisons. Baits should 

 be placed under cover whenever 

 possible. An old board or a box 

 can be leaned against a barn wall 

 to cover a runway. A permanent 

 bait station for exposing the poi- 

 soned baits can be made from an 

 inverted box with two 2- by 3- 

 inch holes cut in each end. This 

 has the added attraction of pro- 

 viding harborage when trash piles 

 or other rat shelters are cleaned 

 up. In any event, baits should be 

 placed where rats are and where 

 they are moving, and not merely 

 scattered anywhere at the conven- 

 ience of the person exposing them. 



Of equal importance is the dis- 

 tribution of enough bait. It is 

 better to put out more than is 

 deemed strictly necessary. The 



