Daily Kennebec journal., 1899-05-13
A STORY ABOUT RATS.
Two State House Officials Discnss the ha'
Problem at Length.

r. seems that Land Agent Oak has |
always been a great sportsman, but
that he has not picked up the practice
of being a good shot since he was hiaue
member of the fish and game COM
mission. Away back, and not SO very
far back either. in the day wheh ne
was at home and was about MS
| fathers tannery, he had the true
| snor,sman's instinct and was a bad
man with a shot gun.
The above conclusion was arrived at
~ ! committee Of several who hap
ra,ad to be in the commissioner office
at the State House. recently when Mr..
oak and Clerk Cotton of the House,
were discussing the rat problem.
No one knows how they came to dis
cussing rats unless it was the remark
that several rats made their abode in
the office of the Kennebec Journal.
Il saw a remarkable fight between
my cat and a rat the other day" said
Mr.. Cotton. 1T was in my barn, and
the eat had, the last saw of him.
been going up ladder. All at once |
heard a thud and there in the barn
floor was the cat fighting with large
rat. Ii was brief struggle. and Tom
had the rat by the neck holding him
high in the air and trotting away.
Il am not a lover Of rats, and l am
rather afraid Of them. One day one
ran out and hid behind trellis. where
he supposed he was hiding from the
view OF the world. He had, however
left his tail sticking out. The real
heroic thing to have done would hHNc
been ID have taken him By the tail and
smashed his head against the side of
the house. but didn't believe in hcruir
measures at that time, so l went INTO
the shed and secured an ak. | cut the
tail clean off that rat. | never saw
him afterwards, but he went to a
neishbor's. and even today they see the
taiIcss rut running about ana call him
the Cotton rat"
My fathers tannery used to be
ovcrrun with the rodents" said Land
Agent Oak. II would, he willing to
take my oath that have killed 800 of
the pests. we would stand it as long
as Ne could and then wc boys would
take day for shooting the things. l
have shot dozens in a day. 1t was
great sport.
II used To go up into the storeroom
of the tannery on Sunday afternoons
ana Sit Still ana watch them come out.
At times | should say there would he
200. You know they 90 in droves, ana
one day place will be overrun with
them. while the next it will be. free.
We used TO try all sorts Of methods for
catching them. one day We caught a
large one in box trap and took him,
as was our custom, to vacant lot
where several Of the boys gathered
about to assist in the execution. l had
heard Of the ferocity Of the animals.
when cornered, but never saw it dis
played before. That rat spranG direct
ly at the face of one Of the boys IN
front of the trap. Luckily the boy
struck at the same moment, ana tha.
ended what might have been a serious
affair.
Il caught a large rat by the
hind leg in trap. one morning.
in my stable. He had evil
IDENTIFY squealed all night for the
horses were all frightened. AS l
opened the door he started at me as
ferceiy as a cornered tiger He put up
| about as stubborn a fight as | ever
witnessed. They have little ferrcts in
the Worumbo mills in Lisbon. that
they let loose every Sunday to fight the
rats
You know rats and weasels are
great fighters" said Mr.. Oak. as H.
commenced on the yarn that cleared
his Office. Well / know of a man
who once saw as pretty a piecesof gen
eralship on the part of a weasel as
anyone could imagine. This particular
weasel and rat used to fight very oft |
en- and the weasel was always driven. |
At last, one day, the weasel burroWed |
under the ground and made a tunnel !
with two openings. One opening he |
made large and the other was small |
just large enough for him to come out |
through. He drew his mortal enemy |
into combat. and all the while re- |
treated toward the hole. Nearing this |
he turned and ran into it with the rat |
following. The weasel soon appeared |
from the smaller end and entering the |
large end, went in to where the rat |
was stuck and killed him. Good day.
gentlemen, call again"