Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1900-02-14
BUY TOADS AND BATS.
Farmers In England Keep Them to
Destroy Insects
Whole Communities May be Kept
Free from Flies and Mosquitoes
by the URiy But Harmless
Creatures.

As result of experiments with toads
and bats, il has been demonstrated that
house, or even a community, can be
ii OF various Troublesome insects, in
ludiag ties and mosquitoes. These ex-
seriments wire made b. Prof. Clinton
:. Hodge. q! Clark university, Norces-
ar, Mess Prof. Hedges first expert
nent was with the toad. u constructed
small pen in M garden. =" he said, "and
Z ii. in Il paucf water. installed male
nd female toad. 70 attract food for
.hcm placed within the Enclosure bits
# meat and bore. The results we're as
satisfactory rs they were unexpected
The loads spent NEST cf the time sitting
within feaching distance Of The bait and
alHAg lie tlics attracted by it.
Watched ore toad snap up Sc house flies
L less shan ten minutes.
"OHe day | gathered a quantity of
rose Bugs IN TIA box and began to feed
the bugs Is toad Al first | did not
count, but, finding his appetite so good
| started TO count Nhenl had counted
ovcr Sc bugs and the teae showed no
signs of wishing "a ccnele3e his meal,
picked hin up. Previous to my begin
nil.g to eourt lie had taken anywhere
rom ten 70 90 Jugs.
u found the toad equally greedy for
esse ucetles, canlier worms. ants, cater
liars. moths, June Bugs, WeeVils,
nails and llauy other insects So, toe,
"a house, room may be cleared OF
eoehrcaohes by leaving a toad in it over
night.
y single toad may destroy over 1900
worms during the months Of May, June
ard Inly, and one of these harmless
creatures may we'll do gardener serv-
lee 10 the amount of $19.sS each season,
and yet he can raise $4,000 worth of
toads al an expense of not more than 20
cents.
Farmers in England buy them, pay
ing as high as S24 per 100, for use in
their flower beds and gardens. For
household purposes a sInsll number of
e,,!s could be given Aemes in an
'auarinm. Al night the tcads could be
1t loose 10 kill bugs, while in the day
they could XII flies. | haes built sort
of cage Of wire screen, foot vide and
Two feet long, the top Of svi,ich is kept
open. 1t Is only necessary 10 PEI in tive
II three toads, provide them With smell
tiers, q dish OF water in one corner, and
then keep ii supplied with bits Of raw
n.eat and any other refuse matter cal
eu,ated To attract flies"
In sDfaEiru of thp hat Prof Hold oe
said We have no animal more inter
esting and probably meme more valu-
able, and certainly none more nisunder-
stood tad abused, than the bat. They
ARE easily taiued absolutely harmless
when gently hnrdled and make rets Us
funny as tiny monkeys. AS destroyer
Of many o. our most pestiferouS night
flirg irsee's. ike mosquitoes. &c hst Is
almost our sole dependence. ard. MS he
is llncwn 10 hunt insects atoot, as well
for larvae tat dc not fly.
NY attention was turned to the bat
through The Goblin moth, the insect to
blame tor r2Oat %crnI-eaten apples. In
N orchard near MY home ! fcund nict
u the 2iuDs u this insect il n,inute.
CHANGING u 90 into another orchard.
badly Z n'ilt away, fourd orly fou;
of the 2ri.1s in an hours search. There
5 an Old narn near by, in which live t
COLONY Of between 70 and 100 hats. The
owner informed me that his apples ere
always free from worms.-N. y. Herald.