Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-11-02
DISGUISED AS A CAT.
Most Remarkable Way to Get Bid of

| Rats.
The tabled ass in the lions skin and hi
no less familiar antithesis, the wolf il
Sleeps clothing, must retreat ingloriously
to what is metaphorically known as "a
back seat" in the presence of new pro.
duct of this practical nineteenth century
| Its like was never heard of before.
| 1t n an invention of man to be specific,
a result of the ingenuity of Head keeper
| Byrne, of the Geological Gardens in Phila
delphia. 1t was produced for a purpose
which it has accomplished so successfully
| that there can be no doubt that Mr. Byrnt
possesses share of those qualities which
have made his distant relative, Inspector
Byrnes, of New York
The Zoo was invaded by rats. They
came, they grew, they multiplied, says the
Philadelphia Press. Finally it became a
question of supremacy between the keepers
and the rodents. The keepers acknowl-
edged their inability to cope with the con-
stantly increasing forces of yermin by
calling in allies after all kinds of mechan-
ical schemes had failed
Steel traps were lamentably inefficacious,
because, given rat in trap and in a state
of fright, he emits scent that is warn
ing to his brethren to avoid the vicinity.
So English Jack" was brought to the Zoo
with his ferrets. But a man temporarily
employed at the Zoo killed one of the fer
rets, which was worth $40, and "Jack"
withdrew his forces.
Then an army of cats was put into
service. Each keeper was given detach-
ment Of cats to train. 1t was difficult to
get the felines to go in where lions and
other savage beasts were. But one breed
was discovered that would venture any
where.
The mere presence of a cat frightens
rats away So they left the buildings and
fled to the outhouses. Routed from there
they took to the lake and swarmed to the
island in the middle. Safety lay there,
for cats cannot swim.
The rats soon had the island under
mined with holes. They made sad havoc
with the young swans and rare birds in
the lake. A cat was finally placed high
and dry upon the island, but it manifested
d disposition to get away therefrom, and
positively declined to work
Then Head Keeper Byrne set to think
ing vigorously. After arduous mental
labor he evolved unique project, which
he promptly put to a test, and which re-
suited in the appearance of what is, as far
as appearance goes new species of mon
ster on the earth.
the size of an ordinary cat. He clipped
off the animals whiskers and the hair of
its head. Then he went to a taxidermist
and procured the skin of a cat, of which
he desired to use only the head.
Placing the rat in small box so that it
could not move, he drew the skin of the
cats head on the rat, as if it were hood.
He pierced the skin with two holes fitted
to the eyes of the rat.
Glass eyes served to replace those used
by the defunct puss in lifetime. The
lower jaw of the cats head was removed,
so that the rat could use his teeth and
could eat without discomfort.
The hood was sewed on securely, the
seams occurring beneath the rats neck.
Then was seen the curious spectacle of a
rat masquerading with a cats head. The
face was white. The animals body was
rubbed with cat grease until the odor of
rat was swallowed up by that Of cat.
Just how the unwonted spectacle of an
apparent cat swimming affected the rats in
the lake cannot be said.
Certain it is it did not arouse their sus-
picions of the animals genuineness. For
when he was set loose in the lake and
promptly made for the island, there began
to be an exodus of rats.
The pain of the rat over the fact that
his company seemed nowhere desired by
others of his kind must be left to the i'm
agination. Doubtless he tried to be COM
panionable, but wherever he came there
was fleeing of his brethren with their
wives and families.
In fifteen minutes after ne landed on the
island the lake was covered with rats try
ing to get away. Some of them boarded
the little schooner Tuscarora, which cruises
in the tiny lake. Others hied to the tops
of the willow trees on the island.
Finally there was united movement in
evacuation. The rats made retreat by
water-the only way open-to the main
land shore of the lake, took an overland
route to the forebay, between the lake and
the Schuykill, and thence found their way
to the river, leaving the astonished and
deserted instrument of the jubilant keep
ers to choose between solitude or suicide
If the animal has not persisted he is still
of LARGE