THE PEST OF RATS 35 



has prevailed over large districts. Tims in 

 the Punjab more than 625 centers of popula- 

 tion, including large towns, were systematically 

 cleared of rats in 1908, the actual number 

 known to have been destroyed reaching 4,116,- 

 334, while large numbers were poisoned and 

 escaped to die. The result in diminution of 

 the endemic plague and other diseases was 

 most marked. 



Side-hunts in which rats are the only animals 

 that count in the contest have sometimes been 

 organized and successfully carried out. At 

 New Burlington, Ohio, a rat-hunt took place 

 November 26, 1866, in which each of the two 

 sides killed over 8,000 rats, the beaten party 

 serving a Thanksgiving banquet to the winners. 



At about the same period county agricultural 

 societies sometimes offered prizes to the family 

 presenting the largest number of rats' tails as 

 evidence that the animals had been destroyed. 

 Even as late as May 2, 1907, in one of the coun- 

 ties of Kentucky, by general consent, the day 

 was set apart for killing rats, and, according to 

 newspaper report, was quite generally observed. 



There is danger that organized rat-hunts will 



