242 PESTS AND NUISANCES 



4. Tying newspapers about trees in such manner as to allow the 

 upper part of the paper to project loosely a few inches frightens the 

 squirrels away. 



Moles 



Moles are rather easily poisoned by inserting in the runways corn 

 in the milk stage, freshly cut from the ear, and poisoned with strychnine 

 solution. 



Moles live in loose and sandy land. If the place is watched, they 

 may be destroyed when they are heaving their burrows. Mole-traps 

 are on the market. (See gophers, p. 243.) 



Prairie-dogs 



Prairie-dogs may be destroyed by much the same means as are 

 ground squirrels. (See ground squirrel remedies, p. 241 ; and wood- 

 chuck or ground-hogs, p. 243.) 



Poisoning by grain soaked in strychnine solution has proved most 

 successful. The following method has been devised and used by the 

 Kansas Experiment Station : The mixture is in the form of a syrup, 

 composed of the following ingredients (for 1 quart) : 1 ounce strychnia 

 sulfate (powdered), 1 ounce potassium cyanide, li ounces alcohol, 1 pint 

 syrup. One ounce of green coffee-berries is mixed with the white of one 

 egg, and allowed to stand at least fourteen hours. The strychnia is 

 dissolved in a half-pint of boiling water. The potassium cyanide is dis- 

 solved in a quarter-pint of hot water and allowed to cool. Add a little 

 warm water to the mixture of coffee and eggs, and mix it with the po- 

 tassium cyanide. Then strain this mixture through a coarse sieve into 

 the mixing vessel, and add the syrup. Mix the alcohol with the hot 

 solution of strychnine, and add it to the other mixture. Stir all 

 thoroughly. One quart of the mixture is sufficient to poison a half- 

 bushel of wheat or kafir. The mixture must be thoroughly stirred 

 before it is poured over the grain. Two or three pounds of fine corn-meal 

 are stirred in with the grain to take up the extra moisture. On a 

 bright, warm morning in January, February, or March, place half a 

 teaspoonful or less of the bait in two or three little piles at the outside 

 of each burrow occupied by prairie-dogs. A half-bushel of grain should 

 poison 500 to 600 holes. 



