60 RODENTS OF IOWA 



Domestic dogs, of the terrier variety, with a very little train- 

 ing usually make good ratters and are of value in destroying these 

 rodents about farm buildings, warehouses, ete. 



Domestic cats are usually so well fed that they will not make 

 an effort to destroy rats, and, moreover, not many cats will attack 

 a full grown rat. Some cats that will not attack rats will destroy 

 mice; but the half -wild cats that roam the fields at large are 

 usually such inveterate destroyers of young birds and poultry as 

 to counteract their efficiency as mousers. 



Tame ferrets are sometimes employed in catching rats, but the 

 services of a well-trained dog are needed in addition, the rats being 

 driven out by the ferret and then killed by the dog. Unmuzzled 

 ferrets sent into the rat burrows are likely to remain quiet after 

 sucking the blood of the rat or to escape through some unlooked- 

 for opening and be lost. Ferrets, too, are delicate creatures and 

 need more or less attention ; so that this method of ratting is scarcely 

 likely to produce good results unless the owner of ferrets is expe- 

 rienced in handling these animals. 



Precautionary Measures. Since house rats and mice are much 

 alike in food habits and in the situations chosen for nesting and 

 rearing their young the following precautionary and control meas- 

 ures are applicable, in general, for either pest. In the control of 

 rats and mice, as with the control of other rodent pests, precau- 

 tionary and preventive measures are more easily effected than are 

 remedial measures after the pests have once gained access to and 

 begun to breed in places offering abundant food and safe retreats. 



The use of cement in the construction of modern buildings pre- 

 sents many advantages in the way of eliminating favorable hiding 

 places for rats and mice. Care should be taken that basements and 

 cellar windows left open for ventilation are properly screened and 

 that outer doors are not left open. The lower edges of outer doors 

 to such places as markets and warehouses should be faced with 

 metal plates through which the animals cannot gnaw. Openings 

 in walls, around steam, gas, or water pipes should be closed with 

 concrete. Rat holes can also be closed permanently in this manner. 

 Sometimes bits of glass or crockery are added to the cement to be 

 used for this purpose. Concrete walls, footings, and floors in base- 

 ments are all effective in keeping these pests from buildings. 



Wooden floors, sidewalks, and porches built close to the ground 

 offer safe hiding places for rats and should be replaced by others 



