18 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 



however, a matter of grave interest to inhabit- 

 ants of the village as well as of the city. Quot- 

 ing Lantz again, 



"The damage to houses and furniture by rats con- 

 stitutes a large item. They burrow under founda- 

 tions or through the plaster in a stone wall and 

 admit streams of water that eventually weaken or 

 undermine the structure itself. They seem to be 

 able to penetrate almost everything except stone, 

 brick, cement, glass, and iron. They gnaw into a 

 grain bin, or through a wainscoting, a floor, or a door 

 in a single night In the same way they enter chests, 

 wardrobes, bookcases, closets, barrels, and boxes for 

 the stores within. Almost every old dwelling in the 

 country bears abundant evidence of its former or 

 present occupancy by rats. Rats gnaw through lead 

 pipes or wooden tanks to obtain water, and sometimes 

 before the leak is discovered, ceilings, wall decora- 

 tions, and floor coverings are flooded and practically 

 ruined. All this is waste of a tangible kind and a 

 constant drain on the prosperity of the people." 



Then there is the ever-menacing devastation 

 from fires due to rats carrying matches into 

 their nests and there igniting them by chewing 

 them, or simply by overheating; or due to their 

 gnawing the insulation from electric wires a 

 surprisingly frequent origin of fires of late 

 vears. 



