Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1905-12-28
Rat Becomes a
Serious Plague

The Spectators The paneS, who
spare no trouble to protect their i'm.
portaut butter industry, have lately
undertaken national campaign
against rats This has been done part.
.ly as a precauUon against plaGue
breaking ont in their sraportS ANA
partly because butter tubs are par.
.ticulagly attractive 10 rats: for there
lis nothing more disgusting than the
thought that these filthy animals may
have been in contact with So alb.
sorhent and easily tainted an article
OF food
In England, on the other hand. no
concerted effort is made to check the
rat plague, The animals are ncreas.
ing everywhere, to the detrtment ot
agricultwisls, poultry.owners, game
farmers, and not less SO Of our native
wild birds Of many kinds The per
.centage Of nnuets. Nullnuchcs,
warblers, and other most OF our
smaller birds the eggs OF which are
eaten by rats, is very large as anyone
may PROV who seeks for them and
watches the fate of the nests They
also act rs serious check on the IN
crease Of Wild fowl. which began
after the protection acts were passed
They prefer the Gags of wild ducks
and marsh birds 70 amy other food,
and a case was lately mentioned In
which the owner of a Wild duck farm
found thirteen ducks eggs in the hole
OF one doe rat
In the month of October there is q
great movement of these animals from
the east coast inland, ON SHOOTING
estate lately visited 10y the writcr,
where incessant trapping keeps thcm
at bay an October invasion Is always
| expected. and as the whole property
IFS kept carefully under observation,
the direction from which they cross
the frontier is we'll known, 1t is vo'y
| probable that this march Of the mis-.
chievous Is partly due TO the closure
of the main herring fishery on Tho
coasts of Norfolk aud Suffolk about
| that time, aud that the increase OF Tho
rats is not unconneeted with tho eN'
exceptionally large catches of hcrrmgs
made during the past two scasona,
The shoals of behring's have passed
Iall previous records, and some siN
hundred Scotch women have hcen en-
gagged In cleaning" the fish. Some,
times the refuse is very properly
saved for fish manure. but the gar,
bago Of countless numbers of hcrrings
is thrown away, and this attracts and
keeps fat the rats In the late summer
and early autumn, When the source
Of supply grows less The creatures
move inland
In Norfolk this was aggravated 4
lew years ago by severe food in
parts OF the fen. This drove out tens
Of thousands Of rats from the low land
to the higher ground. The plague
was such that on one estate the
keepers were afraid TO go to one wood
Mt night, SO numerous and bold were
the creatures. II was not until after
weeks of wholesale poisoning and
rapping that their numbers were re-.
duced. But they had come to stay,
and several circumstances aided them
In their resolution. Not the least i'm,
portant item in the rats favor was
the almost universal spread OF phons.
ant preserving and pheasant rearing
If line be drawn perpendicular TO
! the east coast Of Norfolk inland TO
Cambridgeshire, near Newmarket, ana
thence, in slightly different dlrcc.
! ton, through lIertfordshIre, II cuts
one continuous succession OF great
| pheasant preserves, on these the
pheasants are supplied often over.
lavishly, with artificial food the year
round The quantity Of meal scattered
for the young pheasants, and OF Indian
corn thrown out TO keep the birds NJ
home, in the autumn and winter is
such that II makes a considerable item
in the profits of local corndealers. 1t
! is given with the greatest regularity
every day. and the rats Will always
have their share, coming out in the
most impudent way and feeding among
the pheasantB.
II the keepers are slack in their
duty, every pheasant preserve becomes
la rate preserve. On the partridge
manors II Is 50 impossible to allow The
rat 10 increase, and 10 exercise It's egg.
stealing power in spring, that, as o
rule, the yermin are kept at bay An
other factor In the dispersion ana har
boring Of these pests is the modern
plan OF building the corn.stacks in the
field from which the wheat has bee1
reaped, instead Of bringing It all home
to the rick.yard. II saves the loss on
time and the expense or carting the
loads TO the homestead There IL also
less risk of the whole harvest being
destroyed by fire. But every one OF
these isolated stacks scattered over
the face of the country makes a com.