Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1908-04-24
rat KILLING rs
A NATIONAL ART
UNITED STATES AUTHORITIES
TELL HOW BEST TO EXTERMI-
NATE THE RODENTS.
FRISCO PLAGUE Is AT AN END.
Due to the Slaughter of Thousands OF
the Little Pests-The Best
Traps.
FRISCO PLAGUE Is AT AN END
CHANGE OF BAIT ESSENTIAL

The famous rat catcher of Hamelin must
yield his laurels to the scientific rodent
destroyers of the United States Public
Health and Marine Hospital service. Ac-
cording to reports received by Surgeon
General Wyman the plague of rats in
San Francisco. which threatened to
cause the spread of a more serious
plague, the bubonic, has been well nigh
| ended. Rats by the thousands have been
caught and killed by the government sur
geons, and so successful have they been
in the undertaking that DIR. Wyman has
published a little article entitled, How
to Trap Rats" Past Assistant Sur
geon w. 9. Rucker, stationed at San
Francisco, is the author of the essay. In
| it he says.
Rats are to be found wherever there
is an abundant food supply for them.
Therefore the best places to trap rats
are slaughter houses, meat markets,
chicken houses, in and around garbage
cans and places where garbage is usually
placed. If the rat is deprived of this
feed supply it will be attracted by the
bait in the trap and thus enter the trap.
Stiff, Heavy Wire.
The large 19-inch French wire cage
are plentiful. 1t should be made of stiff,
heavy wire and well reinforced, as
large, strong rat will force his head be-
! tween the wires of weak trap and thus
escape. Before setting, the lever on the
trap should be tested to see that it works
properly. The trap should be placed on
a hard surface. with the rear end hit
tie higher than the entrance, so that
the trap will close promptly. When set
ting the trap in an open place it should
be fastened to board on which about
an inch of soft dirt has been spread.
Place the trap where rats usually go TOR
food or in a runway, and disturb the
surroundings as little as possible. 1t is
sometimes well to place the trap near
dripping water, as the rats may go there
to drink. If the trap is set in hay, straw
or wood it should be covered with the
exception of the entrance) with the same
material. When this is not possible 1t
should be covered with a piece of sack
ing, or placed in dark corner or beneah
the floors When setting the traps in
the sewer a dry place should be chosen.
The rat is more or less of an epicure,
therefore the bait should be changed at
frequent intervals. In a meat market
vegetables are the best bait, while in
location where vegetables are plentiful
fresh liver and fish heads or a little
grain are the best. The following may
be suggested as good bait to be used:
Fish, fish heads, raw meat, cheese,
smoked fish. fresh liver, cooked corned
beef. fried bacon. pine nuts. apples, car
rots and corn. When trapping in chick
en- yards a small chick or duckling is a
| remarkably good bait.
Femsle Should Be Left.
| When a large number of rats are
caught in one trap, search for the female
rat and leave her alive in the trap. as
I H., 10 ,1o1n
! The bait should be fastened to the in
ner side of the top of the trap with a
| piece of fine wire, so that the first rat
that goes in cannot force the bait under
meath the pan and thus prevent the en-
trance of other rats. A few grains of
| barley should be scattered near the en-
! trance of the trap and q small piece of
cheese or meat fastened to the pan with
bit of wire. 1t is often well to touch
| the pan with a feather which has been
| dipped in oil of anise or oil of rhodium
| The trap should be smoked with a piece
| of burning newspaper to take away the
| smell of human hands or of rats which
| have been caught in the trap. Do not
handle the trap after burning il out
| When trapping in a neighborhood where
rats are known to exist the traps should
| not he moved for three or four days
unless they have rats in them. as il is
/ we'll for the rats to become accustomed
\ 10 seeing Inc traps ana thus careless
about entering them. 1t is not wise to Kill
rats where they are caught. as the
squeahng may brighten away the other
rats.
| Snap or spring traps are best for use
| in houses and stores, with the execution
! of fish and meat markets Snap trans
are best for use in runways and On
beams and shelves. 1t is sometimes we'll
| to disguise the trap by covering its floor
with a little sawdust or dirt. The trans
| should first be tested TO see that thew
| work properly and that the staples are
secure. New traps should be smoked or
stained to render them of an inconsnicu
Gus color.
Tough Meat Best.
| The bait should consist of some 6rr,
material, such as fried bacon or tough
meat, and should he tied on so that tba
rat viii be obliged 10 pull on it and thus
| spring the trap, The trap should hi
| placed in a corner or close to the wall
on a fiat, hard surface in order thar TIC
rat cannot spring It with his tail or nv
walking on il.
In warehouses and granaries LARGO
numbers of rats may fre1uently he
| trapped by using barrel or garbage
| can having a metal top which Is care
/ fully balanced. A large piece Of strony
cheese is placed in the middle Of ;bs
cover and a plank laid from the Amor
to the edge Of the barrel The rat ru,,s
up the plank and on the smooth metal
nc nj. winch tips, precipitating the raj