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ECONOMIC ZOOLOGY 



it. Sometimes good results can be secured by the use of some form of 

 barrel trap. Fig. 154, i, shows a barrel with a head of heavy paper tied 

 over the open end; on this paper food is placed for several nights till 

 the rats get the habit of going there for it, then a couple of slits are cut 

 in the paper, which allows the rats to fall into the barrel. A nicely bal- 

 anced hinged lid may be used, as shown in Fig. 154, 2. If a foot of 

 water be placed in the barrel the rats will be drowned by morning, 

 which will save the unpleasant task of killing them. Various modifi- 

 cations of this trap may be used. 



By the use of a small movable wire or wooden pen that may be put 

 around shocks or piles of corn or other grain so that the grain may be 



PIG. 154. Barrel rat traps, i, with bait fastened to stiff paper cut across. 2, 

 with the bait fastened to a hinged lid that can dip only one way because of a nail at 

 a. (After Lantz, House Rats and Mice.) 



thrown out of the pen, the hidden rats are kept inclosed and can be 

 easily killed by dogs or with clubs. 



For destroying rats out of doors or in barns, stables and other houses 

 where the odor of dead animals is not a serious objection, the use of 

 poisons is often the most effective method. In some States the law 

 requires that notice be given before poisons are used, and in all cases 

 extreme care should be taken not only to keep the poison out of the reach 

 of children and other persons, but also to protect dogs and other do- 

 mestic animals. Various poisons are in more or less common use, 

 besides the numerous special preparations that are sold in packages 

 for this purpose. Some of these preparations seem very effective, 

 others are more or less useless. 



