The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1904-07-23

!
in all parts of the country is tale tna'
has been told often enough during re
cent months, says the London Express
one district after another has mad IL
rat plague. Some towns and villages
are even now in the midst of the eX
element of it, and doubtless othel
| places Will be duly visited by the
furry pest. Dogs of sporting bent
are doing doughty deeds daily. Rat
catchcrs are finding substitute for
OIL age pensions.
Two reasons may be given for the
! present invasion of houses, farmyards.
| barns and poultry sheds by armies OF
rats.
First OF all. the steady increase in
the number of the rodents during the
last ten years or SO is undoubtedly the
outcome of mans foolish persistence
fl killing off stoats, weasels, owls pole
cats. offers. buzZards. snakes and other
animals which would assist him i'll
keeping rats within reasonable limits.
Then. with perhaps more rats in the
country, IS il whole. than ut any pre-
vious time in its history, the rodents
have been washed out OF their field
and riverside haunts continually dur
in- the last twelve months and driven
to the homes of men for food and
shelter
What can be said On behalf of the
most universally detested animal Oh
the face of the earth?
de is an agile and graceful creature,
skilful in many ways. full Of resource
intelligent. Il useful scayengcr when he
can be kept to that employment. full
Of complacent happiness and desper-
ately plucky. When living undisturbed
in his own hauntS, the rat is an atIec-
Tomato parent and comrade. Catch
sight Of a rat sitting at peace OH his
launches, smoothing his whiskers, and
il is a pretty spectacle. He is said
to be clcanly in his personal habits,
although he is always at home in the
sewers.
His savage disposition is without
doubt the result of the centuries OF
hunting of which lie has been the vic
tim. He was never popular. and has,
therefore, always been hunted. One
wonders what he might have been
had he ever been given a chance.
1t is the brown rat that plaques Eng
land to-day The Old English black rat,
a smaller and more elegant rodent. far
less fierce and harmful. has been al
l::oSt annihilated by Ills own brother.
The black rat was introduced into
Engiand in the Middle Ages, coming
from the East in ships. He is the an
costoT OF all the fancy rats kept Largely
now as pets.
G'he brown rat also comes from the
East-from Western China. to be pre-
else. He gradually spread over Europe
and in 1880 he first appeared in Eng
land. having been conveyed on ships
sailing from the Baltic. He has now
overrun Great Britain. and been taken
further westward by ships to America.
in parts OF which continent he abounds
by the million. On one Jamaica sugar
plantation 10000 rats have been de-
stroyed in a year.
Tie rat is omniyorous. Nothing
seems to come alniss to him. Possibly
this is the result of lis being contin-
ually hunted from place to place and
time and again driven by stress of
hunger to eat anything that his teeth
can surmount. lie is always working
havoc in game plantations and poultry
farms. destroying eggs and eating the
young birds. He has been known to
gnaw holes in the bodies Of fat pigs,
and destroy the soles of elephants
feet.
The London docks have always been
a favorite haunt of the rodents. Over
5000 have been killed in month by
the official ratcatcher. Formerly these
rats were taken out alive and sold to
dog owners for sporting purposes
Happily this has now been stopped.
The carcasses OF these rats have been
found to contain germs OF bubonic
plague. A penalty Of - hangs over
the head of any person Who takes
away live rat.
The carcasses are collected every
and cremated on the quay
side in the presence of an official.
The sewers Of London We're once
swarmins with the rodents, and the
sewer men We're in the habit OF max
ing large incomes by catching the rats
and selling them for sportin. purposes
at three shillings a dozen. Many 4
grim encounter did these men have
in blind underground passages when
several rats were brought to bay, and
it required no small amount of pluck
to seize the savage vermin.
When driven to extremity there is
scarcely fiercer animal existing than
the brown rat. He is also a serious
danger, for a bite from the garbage
poisoned teeth of rat has often meant
death within few hours. A desperate
rat will sometimes daunt the stoutest
bull terrier, and many splendid dog
has died from rat bite.
In severe extremity hunted rat will
sham death. and be loft for dead in the
gutter. But when all is quiet he will
recover himself and move away as
fast as possible.
The very worst that a rat can do is