Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1860-01-20

From the American Stock journal.


ality with which rats are distributed over
the babitoble globe. In our great cities
they swarm in sewers and cellars; in the
country they infest every house and barn,
and throng up and down our partitions, find
ing access to every part of the house; aud
even in the South Sea islands they exist
plentifully, and are sometimes the only in
habitants. Rats are to the earth as swal-
lows are to the air,-universally present,
yet owing to their habits they are rarely
seen.
The rapid spread of the rat is owing to
the great boldness with which he follows
man and his commissiariat wherever he
goes, Almost every ship that leaves port
far long voyage takes its rats as regularly
as its crew, apd by this means your straw
eled" rat has become by no means rarity.
He may land at an Asiatic port, or again
take passage for a strange country, perhaps
ending his voyage in some uninhabited isl
and where the ship touches for water. If
no more convenient means of passing be-
tween ship and shore presents itself, he
hesitates not to swim, making his entrance
or exit from the ship by tracing the cable to
which the ship is moored. For the preven-
tion of this sailors are in the habit Of stop
ping up the hawser holes, or running the
cable through birch broom, which elfectu-
ally prevent their entrance. When once on
board they are secure as long as the cargo
lasts, provided they can command the great
hecessary-water. When this lis well guard
ed, and no rain enables them to drink up
on deck, they are sometimes reduced to
such straits as to attack the spirit casks,
and get so drunk as to be unable to get
1t seems strange that an animal which
shows itself so sagacious in the pursuit of
food, should possess so scanty a cerebral de-
velopment as the rat. So cunning is he
that his most common tricks are sometimes
received as mere fables Such is the ac-
count given of their way of stealing eggs
-one lying on his back, grasping the egg
with his forepaws, aud the other hauling
him away by the tail. But it is said that
they will even carry eggs from the bottom
to the top of the house, lifting them up
from stair to stair, one rat standing on his
hind legs and pushing them up, and the
other lifting them with his fore paws The
, NIlCh vi tAbIdCblilO VII lIOul ElOTbuC6 udSkS
by dipping in their tails is we'll known. But
the sagacity Of the rat is also shown to
great advantage in the defence of its life
: against assaants. When full grown rat
. was placed in close room with but one
. window, with large strong ferret, the tao
!, tics of the former prevailed over the superb
or strength of the latter after a long con-
test. The rat, having discovered that there
was no means Of escape, uttered shrill
: squeak, and Immediately, without hesita-
ton, took up his position directly under the
r window, thus gaining the advantage of the
: light at the outset. The ferret now ap.
9 preached, ready to seize his prey, but bad
} scarcely got within two feet of his foe, be-
fore the rat, with loud cry, rushed at his
4 antagonist, and inflicted a severe wound on
. his head and neck. This was repeated at
f intervals the rat always eluding the grasp
of the ferret, with every attack inhicting a
t severe wound, and finally fairly beating him
: absolutely bitten into shreds over the
: head and neck" The ferret ordinarily pre-
walls by retaining his hold when once he
D fastens on his prey, sucking his life blood
r meanwhile. The snake prevails by hisven-
. ON. Many anecdotes arc related of tame
e rats One belonging to an omnibus driver
n in London was accustomed to be put in
t the boot to protect his masters dinner, He
: could resist all temptations except in the
: form of plum pudding. Though he KEPT
off all other intruders, he invariably ate hi;
fill himself
: The rat has many enemies--the weasel
skunk, the otter, the dog, the cat, and the
snake hunt him without mercy. But mar
is his most relentless and destructive enc
!, my. In China he is killed for food, ant
dried split rats are sold as delicacy. Th'
chiffonieres of Paris feed on them withou
reluctance. In England, Gipsies continu,
q to eat such as are caught in sacks and il
= barns. AT the siege of Malta, when tn,
:. French were hard pressed, rats fetched I
dollar apiece: but those caught in a grana
ry brought a double price. But man di
rects his hostilities against the rat chiefly
: because he considers him nuisance Trap,
are of little use, for rat will never enteI
!, a trap in which one of his kind has fretteC
. and rubbed Poison is more effectual, bu
hardly safe. Ifarsenic is used, the poisoned
rats Immediately make for the water 4
|, quench their thirst, and may drown them
F" selves in an indoor cistern. Even poison
not liable to this objection, are apt to leave
the careasses of dead rats in places wher,
Z by their intolerable smell they will rende
= rooms or even houses uninhabitable. Cat
; are able in this country to keep the rats un
! der to great extent. In some countrie
" the rats themselves are caught, and by goo,
, feeding, grow to an enormous size, and en-
!, tirely rid the place of their own kind. TIL
! experienced rat-catcher, however, who b
= long habit and experience has grown famil
|, lar with his adversary's haunts and tactic,
is the best and cheapest remedy for rats
In England, rat-catching has become reg
ular trade, and a professor of the art wi
. clear house or a farm-yard, where no,
ice would only take a few struggling adveI
turers, and put the rest on their guard.
n A New SPECIES OF INoENDIARY Doou