No. 4.] 



RATS AND RAT RIDDANCE. 



219 



up and baited until the rats feed nightly upon it, and then is 

 released. (See cut.) "Pickett" says that an acquaintance of 

 his tried this and found it a "horrible" success. In three days 



Barrel traps: 1, with stiff paper cover; 2, with hinged 

 barrel cover; a, stop; b, baits. (After Biological 

 Survey.) 



while he was away from home it engulfed 7 rats, 3 spring 

 chickens, 1 high-bred hen and 4 prime young turkeys. Evi- 

 dently, like most traps, it failed to discriminate.^ Still another 

 plan is to fix a narrow tip-up on the edge of an open barrel, 

 one edge of which rests on a shelf while the other projects out 

 over the barrel, with the bait fastened to the end of the tip-up. 



Much has been written about these traps. Stories are told 

 of the great numbers of rats caught in them. It is said that a 

 brick should be stood on end in the bottom of the barrel in 

 water enough to expose its upper end. The first rat to go in is 

 said to climb on the brick. The next fights the occupant for 

 possession of the island, and the "row" is said to attract all 

 the other rats, who immediately, fired with curiosity or the 

 zeal of the explorer, plunge in and join battle, until only one 

 rat is left alive. All this sounds interesting and encouraging, 

 but in the experiments of the Massachusetts State Board of 

 Agriculture such traps were arranged in several infested stores 

 and buildings, and no one of them ever caught more than a 

 rat or two. I have seen a barrel trap, specially constructed and 

 guaranteed to exterminate the rodents, into which no one was 

 ever able to entice a rat. Success with these traps may be 

 possible if they can be constantly attended by a skillful trapper, 

 and if the rats can be denied food elsewhere, but the traps 



1 The Rural Library, Vol. 1, No. 2, How to rid Buildings and Farm of Rats and Other 

 Pests of Like Character, May 19, 1891, pp. 8, 9. 



