Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1881-02-04
RltS and Mice.

Mice ana rats seem to increase very
rapidly in the haunts of civilization.
especially in large cities. Seaports are
particularly infested with them. as New
Workers Eknow but too well. These
vermin have grown to be supreme
, nuisance here, notably in old houses,
which are fairly overruu. They multi
ply every year. appearing i'll numbers
where short time ago they were hardly
seen. How 10 get ril of mice and rats
is serious problem with householders,
who are often forced to move on their
account. Even an entirely new house
is apt to be invaded after few months.
and to be seriously hurt as place of
residence by the raYages of the noxious
animals. Traps, however ingenious of
contrivance, do little or no good after
brief while, as the cunning creatures
detect their purpose. and either avoid
them or secure the bait without danger
of captivity. Cats get lazy. a good
mouser will in few months become
Indifferent to what has been its favorite
pursuit. And any ordinary cat is
afraid of rats, as well it may be, and
will seldom venture to attack them.
They are generally too wary for terrier,
which, with all his vigilance and fe-
rocity, is deceived by them. 1t is
thought that the introduction of ferrets
into houses would mitigate the annoy
ance. They are often employed in
Europe to destroy such vermin, and
were so employed by the old Romans.
If kept from the cold they are readily
taken care of, and, although not docilc,
nr q Tlnt Il
mestlc animals. They are natives of
Africa, and dependent on man, both
here and in Europe, as without his aid
they would perish. They will soon rid
Il house, it is said, of mice and rats,
which have natural dread of them,
and have been known TO desert premises
that they occupy. They are terrible
and unreienting foe, They are noe
turnal, sleeping nearly all day, and very
watchful at night, when the household
pests commit most of their depreda
tions. Iii, II smallness and slenderness
enable them frequently to follow rats
into holes and kill them in trice. The
general belief that they destroy life by
sucking blood is erroneous, notwth-
standing the statements of naturalists,
from Button to Cuvier and Godfrey
st. Hilaire. After death they, like
other members of the weasel tribe,
doubtless suck the blood of their vic
TINS, but they kill too quickly for so
slow process. 1t has been shown by
repeated experiment that they often
intlict but single wound, which proves
almost instantaneously fatal. They
tAen, as rule, quit their victim at
once and kill another in tho same way.
The simple wound is under or behind
the ear, and may or may not pierce the
large blood vessels. The CANNES enter
the spinal cord between the skull and
the first vertebr;c OF the neck, destroy
ing the victim as the matadore destroys
the bull. They pierce the medulla
oblongata, the very center of life, and
Immediately extinguish motion, Goa
seriousness and sensation. This is one
OF the many instances in which the in
stinct Of animals has anticipated the
tardy deductions of science. The ferret
is so mastery rat-slayer that there
seems to be every reason for introduce
ing him into our domestic economy, as
he will accomplish what trap, poison,
cat and dog have not and can not N.
Y. Times.