I 



RATS 151 



Of the smaller trench annoyances few are more 

 worrying than the plague of rats. Shelters and 

 trenches, no matter where they are made, whether 

 in woods or open fields or on the mountain-side, 

 become immediately infested with the objectionable 

 creatures. In one case within my own personal 

 knowledge they drove a French officer out of a 

 comfortable and commodious dug-out into a damp 

 and melancholy shelter, which was to some extent 

 protected from them by sheets of corrugated iron. 

 The plague had attained considerable dimensions 

 before a really organised attempt was made to deal 

 with it, and there were many cases of rats actually 

 biting men who were chasing them down the trenches. 



Terriers have proved of considerable assistance. 

 Trains full of dogs have been dispatched to the 

 Front, and poison has been fairly effective. Lately, 

 a reward has been offered for every dead rat brought 

 in by men in the trenches, and regular battues have 

 been organised. In a single fortnight one army corps 

 alone has disposed of no fewer than 8000 rats. At 

 a halfpenny a rat this has involved an expense of 

 £16, and it was certainly money well spent. The 

 sport of rat-catching on such very advantageous terms 

 has proved very popular among the men, who now 

 suggest that the standing reward offered for the more 

 dangerous and more exciting form of sport involved 

 in the capture of a German machine-gun should be 

 raised to a higher figure. 



Ferrets have been largely used in the 

 British trenches, but their price is now very 

 high, and the supply is very limited. The 

 method which has had some success in 



