S2 FARMERS' REGISTER— METHOD OF ATTRACTING RAl^ AND MICE. 



much, hcwever, but that the person wlio attends 

 to them may lie alile to see whether tliey have 

 struck or not, witliout ai)proachino; very close (o 

 them. Tlie moniiiig is the most cligil)le time lor 

 this part of the process : and whenever the doors 

 of the rooms in which the traps are set, can with 

 convenience be kept locked, it should ])C done. 



The following morning the traps may be looked 

 at ; and if the rats be in any degree numerous, the 

 whole of the malt will generally be eaten, and the 

 scented straw entirely taken away. These must 

 be then prepared as before, and replaced according 

 to the preceding directions, and the traps and trus- 

 ses of straw must be left as exactly as possible in 

 the order they were at first ; for the rats are sus- 

 picious of the least innovation. 



The floor of the traps must be kept constantly 

 covered with a proper quantity of scented straw ; 

 for although the chief attraction to the rats ap- 

 pears to be the combination of the scent and taste 

 of the oil of carraways with those of the malt ; 

 still they appear to be very highly gratified by the 

 perfumed straw, and where they can be watched, 

 they will be seen to move about it w^ith much ap- 

 parent pleasure. 



After three portions of the prepared malt, which 

 have been put into the traps, have been eaten in 

 as many successive days, the rats will have ac- 

 quired sufficient confidence to enter the traps 

 without distrust, and catching them may then 

 commence : but then the traps must be previously 

 baited again, and tlie straw, if wanted, be renewed ; 

 and every thing must be made to appear, as near- 

 ly as possible, in the situation it was, before the 

 traps were set. In baiting them, the hand of the 

 person who has been preparing the malt, and which 

 will, of course, be strongly scented, must alone be 

 introduced into the traps. 



The morning is generally the best time to com- 

 mence catching, as the rats may be most conve- 

 niently taken out during the day; but if they have 

 been harassed, and are in consequence shy, few, or 

 perhaps none, will enter the traps till the approach 

 of night. Where they are not accustomed to 

 much noise of any kind, they are alarmed by it; 

 but in great towns, where they are accustomed to 

 noise of every kind, they are quite regardless of it. 



To take the rats from the traps, a long and ra- 

 ther a slender bag, made of some thin material, 

 which will admit a moderate quantity of light, 

 must be provided ; and into this the rats will be 

 easily driven from the traps by introducing a slen- 

 der stick through the wire grate at oiie end of the 

 trap, and raising the door at the other end to which 

 the bag is applied. During this, or any other ope- 

 ration, the hand must not, on any account, l)e in- 

 troduced into the traps, unless it be previously 

 scented; else no further success must be expected : 

 even the part of the little stick wliich is introduced 

 through the grate of the door, ought never to be 

 touched with an unprejxared hand. 



Particular care must be taken not to hurt the 

 rats in taking them from the traps ; for their cries 

 never fail to excite terror and mistrust to all in the 

 vicinity, and will generally prevent any more be- 

 mg taken within the succeeding twenty-four hours: 

 it Avill therefore lie proper to take the rats to some 

 distfuice to destroy them. The greatest degree of 

 precaution should also he used not to suffer a rat 

 to escape after being taken, for animals have gen- 

 erally powers of conveying their apprehensions of 



danger to each other, though they do not seem at 

 all ca])able of informing each other of the form or 

 nature of the enemy, or the sort of danger, appre- 

 hended. 



The traps Avill require to have a small quantity 

 of prcjjared malt thrown into them each day, and it 

 will be necessary to renew the scented straw once 

 in five or six days. It is always advantageous to 

 lake out the rats as soon as possible after the traps 

 have struck ; and therefore when the rats are nu- 

 merous, and have entered the traps freely, it will 

 not be eligible to let them remain set, when they 

 are left for the night; because few rats only can be 

 taken by the traps during the night, when they are 

 not attended, and the remainder come more boldly 

 into the traps the next day, if they have had full 

 lil^erty to enter the traps during the preceding 

 night with impunity, than if, during the same pe- 

 riod, they have seen one of their companions la- 

 boring in vain to break through the bars of his 

 prison. But when the number remaining is small, 

 and the destruction of a few rats comparatively im- 

 portant, the traps may remain set during the night ; 

 and it will not unfrequenfly happen that a rat, 

 having been struck by llie falling doors, or other- 

 wise rendered suspicious, will not approach the 

 trap till late in the night, when all is quiet. 



If there be any cats about the house, or buildings, 

 where it is proposed to take the rats by the prece- 

 ding means, those should be previously confined, 

 or taken away ; for they will otherwise often ap- 

 proach, and sometimes enter, the traps ; and when 

 one is taken, it communicates a scent to the trap, 

 which will render it wholly useless, till it has been 

 exposed some time to the air, and re-scented. 

 Dogs should also be prevented from approaching 

 the traps ; and no person, except those employed 

 previously in baiting and setting them, should be 

 permitted to touch them ; for animals of many 

 kinds probably distinguish individuals of the hu- 

 man species, from each other, by their scent and 

 smell ; and the rats, after {)art of their number 

 have disappeared, will sometimes take alarm at a 

 stranger ; and it will on this and other accounts be 

 desirable to select such places for the traps, where- 

 ever that is practicable, as can be secured by 

 locks. 



For the destruction of Mice, the following mea- 

 sures are recommended. 



The trap to be used for that purpose, is similar 

 in construction to those recommended for rats, but 

 much smaller, being only 7^ inches long, 3^ in- 

 ches wide, and 3^ inches high, inside measure. A 

 dozen of these traps, if constantly set, and proper- 

 ly attended to, will be found fully adequate to 

 keep a very extensive house and granaries wholly 

 free from mice, and to diminish greatly their num- 

 bers in the barns of the farmer. For the latter 

 purpose, however, traps capable of taking many 

 at once, or of perpetually acting, might probably 

 be invented, and employed with much advantage, 

 for the mouse which frequents the barn is a very 

 simple animal, and is AX'ry powerfully Attracted 

 liy the ingredients, which Avill be recommended. 

 As a bait for this and the longtailed field mouse, 

 take about half an ounce of rich cheese, toast it 

 moderately without burning it, and then put upon 

 it, with a slender feather, or the point of the fin- 

 ger, a very small quantity of oil of carraways, one 

 tenth of a grahi will be sufficient for each trap. 

 The bait thus prepai-ed should be put upon the 



