FERRETS AND RATS. 97 



pests w ithin a day. Possibly if rats were very 

 numerous one ferret might be overpowered. 



I doubt if any raiser or handler has better 

 explained how to use for rats than Mr. C. 

 Bremen, of Danville, Illinois, who in his catalog 

 gives methods of Working Ferrets on Rats as 

 follows : 



"To hunt, drive and kill is a ferret's natural 

 instinct and disposition. If a ferret has been 

 well handled and cared for and is of the proper 

 age, very little training is necessary to make fine 

 ratters of them. They can be started to chase 

 rats when they are four months old, but there 

 cannot be as much expected from one of this age 

 as from a yearling ferret. For ordinary use on 

 a farm, about the house, barn, granary and other 

 buildings, one pair of yearlings, will usually 

 answer the purpose, and effectually clear out the 

 rats. In grain elevators, warehouses and places 

 where rats are found by the thousands, it is best 

 to have from three to six ferrets. We know of 

 men who make a business of rat catching gener- 

 ally using about six yearling ferrets and success- 

 fully clear out place after place of rats. 



The question is often asked. Can ferrets be 

 used by people who are not professional rat- 

 catchers? In regard to this, I wish to say the 

 ferrets will do the work if they are given the 



