246 ' BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



would surprise him. Probably in most cases two selected 

 efficient cats would do about all the rat killing that cats can 

 be expected to do on the ordinary farm. 



A wholesale grocer found his store most free from rats when 

 he kept fourteen cats, but he had to dispose of the cats, as they 

 did about as much damage as the rats and ate more. 



The cat is unnecessary as a mouse catcher, for all mice may 

 be trapped with the greatest ease. I never was able to get rid 

 of the rats in my town house until the cats were disposed of, as 

 traps could not be set freely without danger to the cats. After 

 the cats had gone it w'as easy at once to trap any rats that in- 

 vaded the place. Those who keep cats can help them to kill 

 rats by baiting rats outside the buildings in the open, and 

 making a place for the cat where it can watch from above and 

 pounce down on them. 



To sum up: by selecting cats carefully and keeping them in 

 sufficient numbers rats may be held in check or driven away. 

 Selected cats are serviceable to people who are too busy, 

 ignorant, indolent or indigent to destroy rats. These classes 

 include a large part of the population. Hence the prevalence 

 of cats. The best ratters are small-sized female brindle or 

 tabby cats, with small heads and large ears, but black cats 

 sometimes are equally useful. 



The Dog. 

 The ordinary farm dog or pet dog is of little use as a rat 

 catcher, but the Airedale and some of the smaller terriers are 

 good ratters, and if not overfed and pampered they may be 

 trained to a high degree of efficiency. The fox terrier cannot 

 be excelled as a rat hunter. A single terrier has been known 

 to kill more than a thousand rats in a year. I recently 

 saw an ordinary untrained fox terrier catch and kill four 

 large brown rats in an hour in open fields one moonlit 

 evening. Had she been trained she might have killed two 

 more that escaped. Probably no cat ever lived that could 

 have covered the same ground and taken four rats in one 

 hour. The cat sometimes spends days watching for a single 

 rat and then misses him. One advantage of the dog is that 

 it can be trained to assist man and to accept man's 



