The Florida agriculturist., 1907-08-07

larger DOX, ana the SII1dIIGT DOX SuOuIO
then be inverted over it. Rats thus
have free access to the bait but fowls
are excluded,
Trapping, if persistently followed, is
one of the most effective methods of
destroying rats. The improved mod
ern traps, with wire fall released by
baited trigger and driven by coi1ed
spring, have marked advantages over
the old forms, and many Of them may
be used at the same time.
The more simply constructed traps
are preferable These traps should be
baited with small pieces of Vienna
sausage or bacon. The trigger wire
should be bent inward to bring the
bait into proper position to permit the
fall to strike the rat in the neck.
Wire cage traps (French) also are
useful for catching rats, but in the long
run the kinds recommended above are
much more effective. While trapping,
all the food should be removed and the
trap bait should be changed often.
Rats are very suspicious, and bats
and traps should be handled as little
as possible
A ferret is useful for driving rats
!
so that dogs can capture them An
experienced person with dogs and fer
rets trained to work together can kill
many rats when they are numerous.
But the amateur ferreter is likely to
be greatly disappointed
The best way of excluding rats from
buildings, whether in the city or coun-
try, is by the use of cement in con-
struction. AS the advantages of this
material are coming to be generally
understood, it's use is rapidly extend
! ing to all kinds Of building. Dwell
ings, dairies, barns, stables, chicken
houses, feedhouses, silos, tanks, els
terms, root-cellars, hotbeds, sidewalks
, and curbs are now often made wholly
Of concrete. Tn constructing dwelling
houses, the additional cost of making
the foundations rat-proof is slight as
compared with the advantages The
cellar walls should have concrete foot
ings and the walls themselves be laid
in cement mortar The cellar floor
should be medium" rather than
''1ean'' concrete, and all water and
drain pipes should be surrounded with
concrete. Even an old cellar may be
made rat-proof at comparatively small
expense. Rat holes may be perma-
nently closed by a mixture of cement,
sand and broken glass or sharp bits
Of stone
Rat-proof granaries, corncribs and
pou1try-houses may be constructed by
a liberal use of concrete in the foun-
dation and floors.
Rats, mice and sparrows may be
| oI 0f
either an inner or an outer covering
Of fne-mesh wire netting, sufficiently
heavy to resist the teeth Of rats.
The common custom Of setting corn
cribs upon posts with inverted pans
at the top often fails because the posts
are not long enough to insure that the
lower cracks Of the structure are be-
yond jumping reach of rats. The
posts should project at least three feet
above the surface of the ground.
The value Of carnivorous mammals
and the larger birds of prey in de-
stroying rats should be more fully
recognized, especially by the farmer
and the game preserver. Chief among
the animals that are useful in Destroy
ing these rodents are the fox, skunk
and weasel, and the larger species Of
owls and hawks. Rats destroy more
poultry and game, both eggs and
young chicks. than all the birds and
wild mammals named combined, yet
some of Our most useful birds of
prey and carnivorous mammals are
prosecuted almost to the point of ex-
tinction. An enlightened public senti-
ment should cause the repeal Of all
! bounties on these animals and afford