The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1882-03-21
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NEW AUk&4 A&ASn 49,
p One Of the many queer ezsplDymenss e fQx.
Bish livelihood d isW id This cisy i thaf q
the professional calchers, Who mzm1es per
haps dozen, NOT moss. and Who uake escience
of the extirpation Of The Fodenha end Icy aSe
very successful The damage caused by these
troublesome little animals is often considerable,
and the difficulty Of getting rid of them is not
overcome by either traps or poisons. The first
is Of no account and fails of It's purpoee ansr DE
capture OF perhaps q half dozen; The latter y
not resorted 70 10 any extent on account of the
consequences liable TO follow Ia getting nd Of
the stencil caused by the decaying vernin- AS
a consequence some better means have 70 be re-
sorted TO. and these professional catchers supply
them, each one of whom claims TO be the only
one that fully understands the business, as mat
ter Of course. Nearly all the large hotels employ
them periodically to reduce the number of their
dead head boarders They find employment
also in many of the private residences, also large
stables, &c, and their success is almost incredi
ble They will capture anywhere from 100 to
200 rats in one night, and often double that num-
Der when they strike place where they are un-
usually abundant. Their mode of procedure diff
fers some, but not materially, They work only
at night, after things get QUOTED down, and be-
gin operations by closing all means of escape
from the scene of operations, and fastening
small wire door over the different rat holes in
such way that the rat may come out easily
enough, but once out the door falls to behind
him and he cannot get back. The catcher then
turns down the lights or extinguishes them alto.
gether, and awaits developments Soon the rats
may be heard scamPering about the floor, for the
slight noise made by the wire doors dropping
down behind them as they emerge from the holes
serves to alarm them. When, according to his
judgment, sufficient number are out the catcher
proceeds TO turn up the lights and gather them
in. He has provided himself with bag, made
of some coarse material that is strong enough to
withstand the attacks that may be made on it.
He also has long pan of longs or pincers with
which to catch them--a feat requiring no little
dexterity and quickness as may be understood
by any one who has ever made the attempt to
hit rat that is running loose, but they seldom
make miss long practice enabling them 10 nip
the most nimble rat the first time, and in the
space of a few moments they will have the place
clear and everything ready for another lot AT
Ter repeating this operation three or four times
the bag is generally filed, when he suspends OPP
erations until the next night and now he real
ICES second time by disposing of the rats TO
either dOg-trainer or rat-pit proprietor.
One would suppose the rats would have no
no difficulty in escaping from the bag by gnaw-
ing holes, which would be the case but Tor the
fact that slight shake or kick seems 10 alarm
them sufficiently TO prevent it. However they
do sometimes succeed in getting out when left
too long quiet. Sometime since party of pleas
ure-seekers returning home in q street. car at a
late hour saw man get in with bag which he
placed al his feet and then apparently fell asleep.
A few moments more and that party might have
been seen leaving the car from every available
exit, and without standing upon the order OF
leaving. The bag was full of rats, and in the
short time they had been left quiet had gnawed
a hole in il, and were swarming over the floor
and seats Of the car, which they had all TO them
selves, with the exception of the one individual
who was not afraid of them, but whose wrath
must be left to your Imagination.
RAMBLER