Connecticut western news., 1884-12-03
RATS BY THE THOUSAND.
The UnplensRut Experience of the Farmers
 of a PennsyIvania Township.

A letter from Bradford county, Penn, says:-Seyeral years ago farmer living in Burlington Township. received as a present from friend in England a pair of peculiar rats. They were about one third larger than the common mouse, and their hair was dark blue color. The farmer kept them in large cage, where large litter of young ones was born. These scattered about the prem ises, and in a year not only the farmers place but the whole neighborhood was overrun by the rats. They became a great nuisance, and were very destruc- tive. All attempts to exterminate them failed until a pair of pet Norway rats belonging to another farmer escaped, with large family of young, from their cage. These rats also increased rapidly and began a warfare against the little blue English pests. In a short time the latter were exterminated or driven away. About year ago farmers in different parts of the township noticed now and then rats of an enormous size and of a breed never before seen in the county about their premises. They were nearly as large as muskrats and of light gray color They exhibited very little fear and at times boldly disputed possession of barns and outbuildiDgs with their owners. These rats are now overrunning the neighborhood in immense numbers, and have become a source of much terror to the inhabitants. They under mine cellar floors and walls and the foundations of buildings, and destroyed many cisterns and ruined milk houses for the purposes for which they are used. Many farmers have had to abandon their cellars. Grsnaries and barns swarm with them day and night. Farmers say that damage to the amount of thousands of dollars has been done by the pests this season.
 To illustrate their boldness and fe- rocity several instances of recent occur. renee are related. A farmers boy en- tered corn crib, iD which he had dis covered & number of the rats, and attacked them. They turned upon him and fought him so fercely that he was compelled to retreat and leave them masters of the situation. He was badly bitten in the legs and hands. In their attack on the boy they sprang upward | as high as his waist in their effort to get at his face and throat. A cat, after stealthily watching four of these large rats working about & house, finally sprang upon one of them. The other three at once attacked the cat, and fought her go desperately that she re- tired hastily from the conflict, bleeding from numerous wounds which they had inflicted upon her with their sharp teeth. One farmer tells of neighbor whose wife was awakened one night by screams issuing from a room where two of her children were sleeping. She ran to the room with a light, and found that three of the immense rats had attacked the children while asleep, and who stood their ground when the mother came to their rescue, followed by the father. The latter killed two of the rats with a long hoe handle, and the third one es- capped. The children were both bitten in the hands and in the face. The in- habitants of the neighborhood are so much alarmed by the bold and destruc- tive incursions of these rats that they intend to hold meetings to devise some means to rid the community of their presence. Where the rats came from originally is a mystery. Some of the farmers believe that they are cross be- tween the Norway rat and the muskrst, which are numerous in the vicinity.