230 ECONOMIC ZOOLOGY 



In habits the three rats are so similar that the following description 

 will apply to all. The common white rats, familiar as pets and as 

 subjects for scientific investigation, are merely albinos, probably of the 

 Norway rat. They are usually mild and gentle in disposition and are 

 not often seen in the wild state. The original home of the rat was prob- 

 ably India or some other part of the Orient; it suddenly appeared in Eu- 

 rope in 1727 and about 1775 it was introduced into America. There 

 are now only two or three States in which it is not known. The 

 average weight of the brown rat is from i to ij^ pounds and an 

 animal of that size that occurs in such enormous numbers can destroy 

 an immense amount of valuable property. As has been said the rat 

 is perfectly omnivorous in habits; though it may prefer certain kinds 

 of food, it will when hungry eat anything that can be chewed, and it 

 frequently spoils more than it actually eats. 



On the farm they are often a terrible pest. They eat corn when 

 newly planted, necessitating replanting; they eat it from the stalk, 

 for rats are excellent climbers and are able to perform astonishing feats 

 of this kind; they nest under the corn shocks and feed on the corn all 

 winter, in sections where corn is left out all winter for cattle feeding; 

 they eat corn and all other grains in the bin and grainery, unless the 

 latter are thoroughly rat-proofed. The manager of a large cattle ranch 

 in Southwestern Virginia estimated his loss of corn in the shock at 

 500 bushels in a single season from rats; and many farmers estimate 

 their annual loss of corn in the crib at from 10 per cent, to 25 per cent. 

 After the grain reaches the mill it is seriously injured by rats and mice 

 unless very active preventive measures be adopted. 



Poultry is so seriously affected that in some instances farmers have 

 given up the attempt to raise it; chickens nearly ready for market 

 are killed and carried away by rats, the damage being often wrongly 

 ascribed to skunks, minks and other wild animals. Nesting birds, 

 as noted in the chapter on birds, are also seriously injured in some places. 



Fruits and vegetables, especially while in transit to market on trains 

 or vessels, are often very seriously damaged. Many instances are re- 

 ported of serious damage to meat in the farmer's smoke house, and cases 

 are reported of young hogs being killed and eaten by rats. Besides 

 the above, the damage on the farm, by rats in undermining and in 

 otherwise injuring buildings, walls, etc., is often'considerable. 



In towns and cities the loss is equally great and is probably more 



