24:2 



Mil. E. G. liOULENGER : REPORT ON 



when covered witli a wire tunnel 8" higli by 4" wide by 24" or 

 36" long. 



jSTumber of rats caught with 100 Gin traps laid down in 



the ordinaiy manner 19 



Do. do. 100 ISTipper traps do 14 



Do. do, 100 Gin traps covered with 



wire tunnels 28 



Do. do. 100 ISTipper traps do 21 



An additional advantage in the use of these wire covers lies in 

 the fact that the Gin and Break-back traps can be laid down 

 in poultry-runs without fear of injury to the full-grown birds. 



It having constantly been stated that traps should be handled 

 as little as possible, and that in setting them gloves should be 

 worn or the hands rubbed in earth, we experimented with a very 

 large number of traps to ascertain whether rats are really 

 influenced by the human odour and are alarmed thereby. On 

 fifteen occasions we laid down in a rat- infested locality outside 

 the Gardens 20 traps, 10 Gin traps and 10 Nipper traps, half of 

 these being carefully handled with gloves rubbed in earth and 

 faintly scented with aniseed, the other half being freely handled 

 with the naked hand. As a result of this experiment we satisfied 

 ourselves that there is no necessity for attempting to disguise the 

 human odour, 36 rats being caught with the traps handled in 

 the ordinary way and only 31 with those laid down with gloves. 



The following table shows the number and type of traps laid 

 down between the months of April and September with the 

 percentages of captures : — 



Type. 



Number of 

 Times set. 



Number of 

 Rats caught. 



Pevceutage. 



Brailsford Triip (all sizes) 



Gin Traps 



Do. (placed under wire tunnel) ... 

 Nipper Traps 



Do. (placed under wire tunnel) , 



Round Wire Trap (7" high) 



Do. (9i:"high) 



Ordinary Cage Trap (with bait book 

 only) 



Do. (with. platform) . 



Eelpot or Wonder Trap 



Other types 



687 

 973 

 135 

 1962 

 126 

 124 

 61 



82 

 166 

 195 



528 



200 



173 



36 



237 



24 



12 









 16 

 17 

 12 



33 



17 

 26 

 12 

 19 

 10 

 







10 



9 



2 



