47 



Sometimes an "educated" house rat defies all efforts to 

 entice him into a trap. In such a case the following plan often 

 succeeds: take a large pail or firkin (if there is danger of leak- 

 age a galvanized iron bucket is best) and a piece of cellar wire 

 netting about 4 inches wide by 8 inches long. Bend the 

 netting so that it will hang over the edge of the pail and form 

 a shelf inside parallel to the bottom of the pail and about 2 

 inches from the top. A triangular piece of wood may be nailed 

 under the shelf as a bracket to support it, 

 so that it will hold the weight of both trap 

 and rat. (See cut.) The trap may be dipped 

 in melted wax to keep it from rusting, and 

 set on the shelf with the bait tied to the pan. 

 The pail should be set in some dark, unfre- 

 quented spot in attic, closet or cellar, where trapping, 

 the rats run, and filled with water so as to just cover the trap 

 and pan but not the bait. I have used a thin chip, tied on 

 top of the pan, on which the bait was fastened to keep it 

 dry. The bait must be handled only with clean gloves. The 

 pail should then be nearly or quite full. Now a board is laid 

 from the floor to the top of the pail, and rests on the pail's 

 edge or on the wire so as to bring its top level with the edge. 

 (See Plate VL, Fig. 1.) A little grain is scattered along this 

 board. This trap will be most successful if there is no other 

 water near by that the rat can reach. If he can get both 

 food and drink here he will sooner or later try to take the 

 bait, when, if the trap is carefully set, it will catch him by the 

 neck and he will jump in and land on his head in the bottom 

 of the pail, where he is either killed by the trap or held down 

 by it and drowned at once. The other rats will not understand 

 his disappearance, and the trick may be repeated. This set 

 must be carefully made and the trap kept covered with water. 

 In winter it can be used only in heated buildings, where water 

 never freezes. 



This arrangement is sure death if the right trap is used and 

 the set is properly made. A washtub may be used and four 

 traps set, which will be likely to increase the catch, but all 

 the shelves and traps must be carefully adjusted and the tub 

 leveled exactly, so that all the traps may be entirely covered 



