244 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



destroyed numberless insects and never harmed a person or a 

 chicken, although I have known disagreeable consequences to 

 both persons and chickens to ensue under different circum- 

 stances. Many large snakes kill rats. 



The Cat. 



Almost without exception rat catchers and writers on rats 

 and their habits belittle the cat as a rat catcher. The con- 

 sensus of opinion seems to be that while most cats catch mice, 

 very few care to attack a full-grown brown rat. My own 

 experience is somewhat at variance with this opinion. I believe 

 that many stray or feral cats catch rats, and that some farm 

 cats are fairly good ratters. The number of rat-catching cats 

 in the city or town may be smaller. Many Massachusetts 

 farmers rely chiefly on cats to keep their premises free from 

 rats, but rarely, so far as I have been able to learn by actual 

 observation, do they free their owners' buildings and grounds 

 absolutely from the rodents; nevertheless, in some cases they 

 keep down the increase. 



The best ratter I ever observed was kept as an experiment, 

 and caught about one rat a week on the average in and about 

 my farm buildings for the nine months that she was kept under 

 observation. She might have caught more had rats been more 

 numerous there. Rats were seen often before the cat came; 

 after her advent they rarely were seen or heard. They dis- 

 appeared from the house for the time being and rarely came 

 back, but a careful search for tracks and signs showed that they 

 were as numerous as ever in and about the barn, and oc- 

 casionally one entered the house but soon was caught. At the 

 end of nine months eleven snap traps were set one night in the 

 barn and the cat shut out. Some of these traps were old, 

 rusty and nearly worthless, but the next morning four rats 

 were found dead in the traps, two traps had been dragged 

 away, and two more traps were sprung but ratless. Later, two 

 more trapped rats were found dead. Thus, six rats were 

 trapped at once in a building where the cat had been given 

 every opportunity to catch rats for six months, and, had the 

 traps been new, probably two or three more might have been 

 taken. The cat never got more than three rats in one day, 



