RODENT PESTS OF THE FARM. 



21 



Rats are much more suspicious than mice and are rather hard to 

 trap or poison. Either method of destroying them may be made 

 effective by making inaccessible all food other than the baits used. 

 The importance of rat-proofing buildings in extensive operations 

 against these pests should not be overlooked ; and much loss may be 

 prevented by rat-proofing all containers of stored grains and food 

 products. No one kind of poison can be relied upon to be effective 

 under every circumstance. In general, poisons can not be used in 

 occupied dwellings without disagreeable results, for no poison vvull 

 prevent decomposition of dead bodies of rats. Inside of residences, 

 therefore, traps must be the main reliance. Simple traps of the 

 guillotine type are recommended as best. Baits should be varied 

 to suit local conditions — in meat markets grains are recommended, 

 and where grain is stored meat and fish are more effective. 



Some cats and some dogs are useful against rats, but the well-fed 

 and pampered feline or canine will refuse to hunt them. Ferrets are 

 of no use in rat catching unless handled by an experienced person 

 helped by trained dogs. Eat viruses seldom prove satisfactory, and 

 in occupied premises are open to the same objections that hold against 

 poisons; besides, they are much more expensive. 



Under most circumstances the best results in ridding premises of 

 rats may be obtained by the use of a sufficient number of ordinary 

 guillotine traps. Oatmeal is recommended for bait, but fish, bacon, 

 sausage, and even pastry or cheese are sometimes useful as alterna- 

 tives. Traps should be set lightly, and all food other than baits 

 should be covered or made inaccessible. Traps may be placed in 

 runs, behind furniture or boards leaned against the walls, or at the 

 entrances to rat holes. As they are o'ften sprung when rats run over 

 them, they need not always be baited. It is needless to say that in 

 order to succeed, the trapper must take an interest in his work and 

 attend closely to every detail. 



RELATION OF CARNIVOROUS ANIMALS TO RODENTS. 



Most carnivorous, or flesh-eating, animals feed extensively on the 

 rodent pests of the farm. Coyotes, foxes, wildcats, badgers, skunks, 

 minks, and other flesh-eating mammals are among the most potent 

 agents in preventing an undue increase of mice, ground squirrels, 

 pocket gophers, and the like; and much of the damage now done by 

 rodents is due to the unceasing warfare that has been waged against 

 their enemies, the carnivorous animals. These have been hunted, not 

 only for their valuable pelts, but because they are considered the 

 enemies of domestic animals and game. The fact that many of them 

 destroy far more noxious rodents than they do useful animals has 

 often been forgotten, and, in the name of game protection, legisla- 

 tures have sometimes proscribed by bounties species that do far more 



