The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-01-25

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(Wil1iam Colby Rucker, MS, MD,
Assistant Surgeon General, United
States Public Health Service.)
(ExcIusive Service The Survey Press
Rureau.)
Several thousand years ago, the CA
sual relationship existing between 70 :,
que was noticed. To-day the reason
of this relationship has been fouad.
and we have learned anew that use
full as the rat once was as the unpaid
village Scayenger, the time has come
when the rat must go.
Rats have bubonic plague which
travels from them to men through
that common carrier of plague, the
flea. Rats also suffer from 1eprosy.
cancer, and a Number of other diseas-
es. but it is not proven yet that they
transmit these to man. From the
conoraic standpoint, it is equally inn
pertant that rats be evicted from the
which they levy is in thef aggregate
enorn Gus. while the annual losses
which we suffer through their wanton
depredations rounds out their total
cost to man to a figure approxlmat-
ing millions. Hence deratizaticn.
Fighting rats is just like fighting
anything else. Dependence is not to
be placed on any single measure. A.
pugiIist with single punch does not
last the first round. In deratizatiop,
the enemy Is to be simultaneously
starved. poisoned, trapped and evict-
ed.
In starving rats, the prime point Of
attack is the garbage can, because rate
are natural scaEsnger. This means
the enactment, by all organized muni-
cipalitfes, of ordinances requiring
houSehoiders to have water-tight
metal garbage cans with tight fitting
lids Next comes an efficient gar
bage collection and disposal service.
and the proper supervision of the per-
sons employed for this work This
accomplished. there is an immediate
decrease in the avatltbIe quantity of
rat food. Then all food supplies,
should be removed from rats by being
placed in rat-proof containers,
In order to poison your rat, first
starve him, The United States Pub
lie Health Service has. experiment
with large number OF poisons, anti
it is the consensus of opinion of the
officers who have done this work that
poiaons which have phosphorus as
their active agent. are the most effee-
tive. It should be borne in mind that
phosphorus il liable to spontaneous
combustion, and that it deteriorates
somewhat rapidly. To overcome the
first objection IT is wise to employ pol
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ed with glucose. The deterioration
of the phosphorus is really not an OBJ
lection. II rats do not take poison in
the first few days it is put out. they
are not likely to take it at all. There
fore,it is better to employ as the poison,
a chemical which loses its strength SO
that If it Is taken by some other ami
NAL later. no harm will result Lit
tie cubes of bread are the best rat
bait but care should be taken that all
six sides of the cube are covered with
the poison These morsels should be
placed in rat holes and in other sit
uations where they may be taken by
rats, but not by domestic animals or
children. after the poisons have
been left out long enough for the rats
to take them, If they are going to,
all poisoned pieces of bread which
are left behind should be collected aA1d
destroyed.
Rats cannot be exterminated by
traps alone, any more than they can
by poison or starving alone. but trap
ping is g. useful adjunct to- other de-
ratization methods, When the Unit
ed States Public Health Service con-
Quoted the plague suppressive meas
ures in San Francisco two types of
traps were used. the large cage trap
and the snap trap. Each is useful,
but in the long run. the snap trap
proves best. The best cage trap is
the large 4S-1ncn french type. IL
should be baited with some odorous
food, to which the rat is not aceus-
toned. The snap trap should be per-
fectly fiat and should have a good
strong spring. hung on a hair trigger
ready to go of the minute the rat
touches the, bait. Tough old bacon
makes the best bait for such a trap.
Do not put the trap in the middle of
the room. Rats run by feeling with |
their vihrissae or whiskers. Therefore |
a rat runs around the walls. Place