81 



and these were enticed outside the barn for her convenience. 

 Probably fifty rats could have been trapped in that barn in 

 two weeks — after the nine months' work of the cat. Mr. 

 Wilfrid Wheeler had a cat that at one time averaged two rats 

 a day for a week, but the rats were so numerous there that 

 the cat made no visible impression on their numbers, and 

 finally poison was resorted to. The two cats above named may 

 be considered excellent rat catchers. 



The following, from Surgeon G. M. Corput in the United 

 States Public Health Reports, shows how little dependence can 

 be placed on the cat as a rat exterminator: — 



Every quarantine officer is familiar ^\-ith the old plea of shipmasters that 

 there is no use of fumigating the cabin of a vessel because there is a cat 

 on board which is an excellent ratter and renders it impossible for rats 

 to live in cabin. The enclosed pictm-es are the result of not believing 

 this ston,'. The British steamship "Ethelhilda" arrived at tliis station 

 [New Orleans Quarantine] March 18, from the west coast of Africa. 

 The captain assured me that it was impossible for anj- rats to be in the 

 cabin of his vessel because of the presence of an exceptionally good cat. 

 The cabin was nevertheless fumigated. Through the irony of fate the 

 cat was forgotten. When the cabin was opened up the enclosed picture 

 shows the result. Every part of the ship had manj' rats. The picture 

 is limited, however, to what was found in the cabin, — one cat, twentj-- 

 four rats. ' 



A rat-catchmg cat no doubt tends to drive rats away from 

 the dwelling where it is domiciled to some other place where 

 such cats are not kept. Nevertheless, if rats have good harbor- 

 age and a plentiful supply of food, they often remain and 

 increase in spite of the best of cats. For this reason many 

 farmers are not content with one cat but keep a number, wliich 

 they find more effective than one in keeping down the rat 

 population. It costs very little to keep cats if they are fed 

 only the "strippings" at milking time, and are allowed to pick 

 up their own living otherwise. In this way from three to forty 

 cats are kept on some farms, some of which are worthless as 

 rat catchers. In such cases there is doubtless a great indirect 

 loss to the farmer in the number of insect-eating birds that the 

 cats destroy, which if it could be reduced to dollars and cents 



I Public Health Reiwrts, Vol. 29, No. 16. April 17, 1914, p. 92S. 



