as E^iemies of Mav.kind. 



33 



The fullest protection should be accorded to all Stoats,* 

 Weasels, Owls, and Kestrels. They are most valuable allies 

 and destroy large numbers of rats. It is not a sound argument 

 to object, as some do, that a weasel will not attack a full-grown 

 rat ; weasels do a better service than that — they kill large numbers 

 of young rats, and young rats are far more numerous than old 

 ones, and potentially far more dangerous. If these beasts and 

 birds of prey occasionally help themselves to a young game bird 

 or a rabbit it is not of much consequence ; the rats they have 

 destroyed and will destroy, if unmolested, would have done and 

 will do, if not destroyed, far more damage of that kind. In fact, 

 many of the crimes laid at carnivorous doors are crimes committed 

 by the rat. 



Poisoning should be done once or twice a year — in the spring 

 and in the late autumn. March is said to be the best month for 

 this, because food is short and the rats will take the poisoned baits 

 readily. Arsenic is recommended by one very experienced rat- 

 catcher as the best and safest poison, because in the small doses 

 necessary to kill rats it entails little risk to domestic animals ; if 

 they find and eat the body of a rat so poisoned the small quantity 

 of arsenic in the body is said to act upon them merely as a 

 purgative. On the other hand, the United States Public Health 

 Service is convinced, according to Lantz, " that arsenic is a very un- 

 reliable rat poison." Barium carbonate is a very good and probably 

 the safest poison; it has the merit of being tasteless and odourless 

 when conveyed in a proper medium. A proprietary article — 

 " Sanford's Poison"! — has recently been highly praised by 

 Mr. Sharpe, in the Field, Strychnine and phosphorus are also 

 used effectively ; but they are most dangerous, and must be used 

 with the greatest caution. 



Poisoned baits should always be placed well within the burrows 

 and out of the reach of other animals ; by this means also the risk 

 of a rat carrying a bait off and leaving it in an exposed place is 

 diminished. Where desirable to poison rats on a feeding ground 

 away from their burrows, as in a barn, it is necessary to convey 



* This recommendation to protect Stoats and Weasels does not, and will 

 not, meet with the approval of ail ; in the writer's opinion it is one of the 

 most important measures, not only against Rats but against Mice and Voles 

 {see pp. 43-47). 



t Dr. Manby informs us that phosphorus is the poisonous ingredient in 

 " Sanford." 



