50 THE PESTS OF THE FAHM. 



he possesses every legitimate right to exterminate, if he can, hi* 

 vermin foes, root and branch, and to cry, with the clearest of con- 

 sciences, " War war to the " trap ! 



There are three descriptions of Rat generally known as a nui- 

 sance to the farmer or merchant : the common Brown or Norway 

 Rat, the indigenous Black Rat, and the Wafr-r Rat. The last men- 

 tioned is seldom a true rat ; for what is usually known as Water Rat 

 is not a rat at all, but an animal of an allied genus, properly to be 

 called Vole. The common Brown Rat sometimes also presents Al- 

 bino characters, that is to say, it is occasionally to be found of a 

 white color, with red eyes. It is not my intention, neither would 

 it suit the purpose of the present work, to enter at any length into 

 the natural history of these animals ; a brief description will there- 

 fore suffice. 



THE COMMON BROWN RAT. 



The most formidable is the common Brown Rat (mm decunxtniis), 

 an animal for whose importation we are indebted to the Norwegians, 

 and which has now almost wholly extirpated our indigenous va- 

 riety, the Black Rat (mus rattus). These animals require no de- 

 scription ; very little to our satisfaction, we are too well acquainted 

 with their appearance. The Black Rat is smaller than the now 

 common variety ; its color is a slaty blue, sometimes a jet black, 

 and ite tail is longer and more scaly than that of its Norwegian 

 conqueror. The White Rat is rare, and is merely an accidental 

 variety of the Brown. These animals are all equally mischievous, 

 and resemble each other in their habits, so that the same mode of 

 destruction will answer for all. Various plans for the destruction 

 of rats have been suggested, but I confess that I am not a little 

 surprised that the adoption of some effectual means should be so 

 little general as it is ; for I am prepared to assert that were all who 



