Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-10-03
BATS AND TOADS,
Valuable to Farmers as DestrOyers OF
Worms and Insects.
From the Boston Transcript.

| From the Boston Transcript.
AS result of experiments with toads and
bats it has been demonstrated that a
house, or even a community, can be rid of
various troublesome insects including flies
and mosquitoes These experiments were
made by Professor Clinton F. Hodge of
Clark University, Worcester, Mass. Pro-
fessor Hodges first experiment was with
the toad. Il constructed a small pen in
my garden he said, land in it. in pan
of water, installed a male and female toad.
To attract food for them I placed within
the Enclosure bits of food and bone. The
results were satisfactory as they were
unexpected The toads spent most of the
time sitting within reaching distance of the
bait and killing the flies attracted by it. 1
watched one toad snap up eghty-siX house
flies in less than ten minutes.
Zone day l gathered a quantity of rose
bugs in a tin box and began to feed the
bugs to a toad. At first 1 did not count
but finding his appetite good I started
to count. When l had counted over eighty
bugs and the toad showed no signs of
wishing to conclude his meal, I picked him
up. Previous to my beginning to count he
had taken anywhere from ten to twenty
bugs. l found the toad equally greedy for
rose beetles, canker worms, ants, caterpil-
lars moths, June bugs. weevils snais and
many other insects. So. too, In a house.
room may be cleared of cockroaches by
leaving toad in it over night.
"A single toad may destroy over 1000
worms during the months of May, June
and July, and one Of these harmless crea-
lures may well do a gardener service to the
amount of s19SS each season, and yet he
can raise $4,000 worth of toads at an ex-
pense of not more than twenty cents.
Farmers In England buy them. paying
as high as s24 per 100 for use in their
flower beds and gardens. For household
purposes small number of toads could be
given homes in an aquarium. At night the
toads could be left loose to kill bugs while
in the day they could kill flies. I have
built a sort Of cage or wire screen, foot
wide and two feet long, the top of which
is kept open 1t is only necessary to put
in two or three toads, provide them with
shelters. dish of water in one corner. and
then keep 1t supplied with bits of raw
meat and any other refuse matter calculat-
ed to attract flies"
In speaking of the bat Professor Hodge
said: I'VE have no animal more interest
ing and probably none more valuable. and
certainly none less understood and more
abused than the bat. They are easily
tanned. absolutely harmless when gently
handled. and make pets as funny as tiny
monkeys. AS destroyers of many of our
most pestiferous night-fying insects, like
mosquitoes the bat Is almost our sole de-
pendence, and as he is known to hunt in
sects afoot, as well on wing. he Is also
of some value for larvae that do not fly.
my attention was turned to the bat
through the Goblin moth. the insect to
blame for most wormeaten apples In an
orchard near my home I found nine of the
grubs of the insect in a minute CHANGING
to go Into another orchard, hardly mile
away. / found only four of the grubs in an
hours search. There is an old barn near
by. in which live colony of between sew
formed me that his apples were always free
from worms"