'.Vith Uncle Som' s Ncvtarali sts 



12-2-32 



importance of getting rid of then," 



The Biologicol Survey also fought rats in the early-vegetable sections of 

 the ilorida Everglades* 



In the Ever^ades that co-usin of the camraon hrovm rat, the cotton rat was 

 playing havoc with .tonatoes and swoetpotatoes and other early track crops. The 

 cotton r a,t damage in just one county ainounted to something over $150,000. in a 

 single year. The vegetable growers warred against the rats without success. They 

 called upon the rodent specialists for help. 



The rodent control men in cooperation with the Florida gome authorities 

 first tried mt different kinds of poison bait. Farmers had been using poisoned 

 grain. But tlie rats didnH sean to like the grain baits and the grain baits also 

 killed birds as well as rats. To prevent that trouble the rodent men decided 

 vcpon a sweetpotato bait. Hats like the sweetpotatoes but the birds don't. 



The vegetable growers spread the sweet potp.to bait in their truck pa-tches. 

 Members of the Future Farmers organizati n and the 4-H Clubs scattered the bait 

 along the roadsides. The cotton rats ate the bait — then they died off by the 

 thousands. One man after using 27 cents* worth of bait, counted 260 dead cotton 

 rats on o. single acre. 



That poisoning campaign in the Everglades cut the cotton-rat damage to a 

 tenth of what it had been. 



In New England, the Survey's rodent experts led fruit growers in aai equally 

 successful camapign against field mice. 



Field mice chew off the ro;* s of young trees and girdle the roots and trunlcs 

 of older trees, ao often that many growers take the damage for granted. 



However, during the past year, the fruit growers put out somethdng over 

 10,000 pounds of bait. That bait did its work. Nearly fo-ur-fifths of the growers 

 reported that nice didn?t bother a single tree after tha.t poisoning campaign. Of 



the nearly 90,000 trees protected with bait, only 92 ordy about .ne tree in a 



thousand sliowed any sign, of mouse dama^ge. 



But, Texas, Florida, ajnd New Englajid farmers axen't the only farmers v/ho 

 have trrables with rodents, '"estcrn farmers rJ.so have special rodent problems. 

 Besides rats and mice, western f .-^rmors have to contend with pocket gophers, ground 

 squirrels, and prairie dogs. Pocket gophers, ground squirrels, and prairie dogs 

 burrow throu^ irrign.tion chajiiiels and water reservoirs, and riddle pastures and 

 range land vdth holes, ajid ruin alfalfa fields. In the ITest, just as in the East, 

 the rodent specialists of the Biological Survey axe helping fa.rmers stage poison- 

 ing campaigns. 



But, pocket gophers, ground squirrels, and prairie dogs axen't the '.Testern 

 farmer's only worries; not by a long shot, l^f). some sections, livestock grov/ers 

 and crop faxmers have to fi^t mountain lions pnd wild-cats, to say nothing of 

 wolves, and coyotes, and other predatory ajuma4.s. During the pa.st yeax, beasts of 

 prey have been even worse than usual in some places, because fur prices have been 

 so low tha.t hunters didn't trap so -XLch as forraerly. So whenever the big cats. 



