The record-union., 1899-11-26
Buggies !; IL; :
- bus Buggy and
DIGGS VEHICLE AND IMP co.
TOADs AND BATS.
Their Usefulness in Destroying
Troublesome Insects.

AS result of experiments with toads
and bats, it has been demonstrated that
house, or even a community, can be
rid of various troublesome insects. in
cluding flies and mosquitoes. These ex-
periments were made by Professor
Clinton F. Hodge of Clark University
Worcester, Mass. Professor Hodges
first experiment was with the toad. Il
constructed a small pen in my gar
den,' he said, ''and in it, in a pan OF
water, installed a male and female
toad. To attract food for them l
placed within the inclosure bits of meat
and bone The results were as satis-
factory 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,
watched one toad snap up eghty-six
house flies in less than ten minutes.
"One day l gathered a quantity of
rose bugs in tin box and began 10
feed the bugs to a toad. At first l did
not count, but finding his appetite sc
good, 1 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. I
found the toad equally greedy for rose
beetles, canker worms, ants. caterpil-
lars, moths, June bugs, weevils, snails
and many other insects. So. too. in a
house, a room may be cleared of cock
reaches by leaving a toad in it over
night
"A single toad may destroy over
Z,0OO worms during the months of May
June and July, and one of these harm
less creatures may we'll do a gardener.
service to the amount of S19SS each
season, and yet he can raise $50 OOO
worth of toads at an expense of not
more than 20 cents
Farmers in England buy them. nav
ing as high as $24 a thousand. for use
in their flower beds and gardens. For
household purposes a small number of
toads could be given homes in an
aquarium. At night the toads could be
let loose to kill bugs, while in the day
they could kill flies. I have built a sort
OF cage or wire screen a foot wide ard
two feet long, the top of which is ,sept
open. 1t is only necessary to put IN
two or three toads, provide them with
shelter, with dish of water in one
corner, and then keep them suppliel
with bits of raw meat and any other
reIuse matter calculated to attract
flies"
In speaking of the bat, Professor
Hodge said: I'VE have no animal more
interesting and probably none more
valuable. and certainly none less under
stood 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 flying insects, like
mosquitoes, the bat is almost our sole
dependence, and as ne is known to
hunt insects afoot, as well as on the
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 worm eaten apples In
an orchard near my home 1 found nine
of the grubs of this insect in a minute.
Chancing to go to another orchard
hardly mile away, 1 found only four
OF the grubs in an hours search. There
is an old barn near by, in which live a.
colony of between seventy-five and one
hundred bats. The owner informed me
that his apples were always free from
worms. Bangor Industrial Record.