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rarely of the fine breeds, but generally of the common "tabby" 

 variety, kept in barns or warehouses, fed on milk, and left to forage 

 for their own meat. Managed in this way, cats are far less objection- 

 able on sanitary grounds than when kept in the house as pets. In 

 the country, on the other hand, barn cats are far more likely than 

 the house-kept ones to run at large and prey upon birds and young 

 poultry. Aside from the rat itself, we have no more serious enemy 

 of birds and game than half-wild cats, many of which have been 

 abandoned in fields and woods by the thoughtless. All things 

 considered, cats do not rank high as destroyers of the common 

 brown rat. 



FERRETS. 



Tame ferrets, like weasels, are inveterate foes of rats, and can 

 follow them into their retreats. Under favorable circumstances 

 ferrets are useful aids to the rat catcher, but their value is often 

 greatly overestimated. They require experienced handling and the 

 additional services of a well-trained dog or two to do effective work. 

 Dogs and ferrets must be thoroughly accustomed to each other. 

 A noisy or excitable dog is useless in ferreting. The ferret should be 

 used only to drive out the rats, which are then killed by the dogs. 

 If an unmuzzled ferret is sent into rat retreats under floors, it is apt to 

 lie up after killing a rat and sucking its blood. Sometimes the ferret 

 will remain for hours in a rat burrow or escape by unguarded exits 

 and be lost. 



Such experiences often discourage the amateur ferreter. Besides, 

 ferrets are subject to diseases and require the greatest of care as to 

 their food. For these reasons the use of ferrets to destroy rats, 

 except in the hands of the experienced, is generally expensive and 

 disappointing. 



OTHER ANIMALS. 



MONGOOSE. 



The various species of mongoose (Herpestes and Mongos) are 

 destroyers of rats, and their importation into this country has often 

 been urged. Many years ago they w T ere introduced into Jamaica and 

 Hawaii to save the sugar plantations from ravages by rats. The 

 mongoose has, however, proved very destructive to native birds and 

 poultry in the islands, and its introduction is now generally regretted. 

 Its importation into the United States is prohibited by law. 



ALLIGATORS. 



In the South the alligator is said to destroy many rats along levees 

 and banks of streams, and its protection has been urged on this 

 account. 



