RATS. 89 



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 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 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. 



Traps. — Owing to their cunning it is not easy to clean 

 premises of rats by trapping; if food is abundant, it is im- 

 possible. 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. 



Cage Trap. — When rats are numerous, the large French 

 wire cage traps can be used to advantage. They should be 

 made of stiff, heavy wire, well reinforced. Many of those 

 sold in hardware stores are useless, because a full grown 

 rat can bend the light wires apart and escape. Cage traps 

 should 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 large catch 

 may (be expected, especially of young rats. As many as 25 

 and even more partly grown rats have .been taken at a time in 

 one of these traps. The writer has had excellent success by 

 concealing a cage trap under a bunch of hay or straw, and 

 has found by experience that a decoy rat in the trap is useful. 

 A commission merchant in Baltimore places the baited cage 

 trap inside of a wooden box having a hole in one end and 

 against which the opening of the trap is fitted. The box is 

 then covered with trash and large catches are made. 



