MAKING OPEN DOOR RAT-PROOF 159 



cover of darkness, but they are not afraid of a daylight attack if 

 conditions seem at all favorable. If rats abound in large numbers 

 and food is scarce, they will become exceedingly bold. I have 

 seen them search for food in broad daylight under the very eyes 

 of an attendant, and fairly defy him to make any defence against 

 their mischief. 



Rats appear to be good jumpers, but that is because they half 

 climb and half jump to gain a certain position. They cannot 

 jump straight into the air for any distance — two feet is easily their 

 limit. They are good climbers, of course, yet they cannot pass 

 a vertical surface of metal, because their claws will not grip the 

 slippery metal. Thus, if a house is elevated a couple of feet from 

 the ground, which is desirable anyhow if the house be frame, to 

 prevent decay due to moisture, and its foundations are covered 

 with a strip of tin, as shown in Fig. 109, the rats will not be able 

 to climb into the building. And if the exits are kept clear of any 

 inclined runways, save for a projected shelf, as indicated, which 

 is kept a couple of feet from the ground, the rats will not be able 

 to jump into the building. 



Excepting the very heaviest breeds, it is no trouble for fowls to 

 jump two feet, and thus gain entrance to the house. Mediter- 

 raneans find it easy to jump three and four feet. Similarly, 

 Mediterranean chicks, whose wing feathers develop at an early 

 age, have no difficulty in flying two or three feet. 



Avoid Tedious Methods. — Ultimately the poultryman is bound 

 to discover that the arrangement, accessibility and operation of 

 doors and gates have a great deal to do with the labor expended on 

 a flock. They have an important bearing on the ease and com- 

 fort with which the numerous chores are performed, and this 

 factor has a greater influence on the efficiency of a plant than 

 many are inclined to suppose. It is especially vital where hired 

 labor is concerned. Whatever the ethics or circumstances may 

 be, it is a fact that an intelligent worker resents having to per- 

 form a task by some tedious method, and in the course of time 

 this worker is likely to slight the task by reason thereof. Finally, 

 it may necessitate discharging the worker for negligence. 



