Meade County news., 1917-05-17

Prepared by the United States Depart
ment Of Agriculture)
Several groups, or genera, of short
tailed field mice occur in the United
States and Canada, but only two of
them have, by reason Of their abun-
dance in cultivated regions, become Sc
riOus pests. These are commonly
known as meadow mice and pine mice.
Depredations by meadow mice may
be greatly lessened and serious out
breaks prevented by clean cultivation,
the elimination Of old fence rows, and
the prompt burning Of dead weeds and
other trash.
Pine mice, like moles, burrow under
ground, where their tunnels are sim
llar in extent and intricacy to the sur
face runways Of meadow mice; but as
their natural habitat is the woods, they
come less frequently in contact with
farm crops. Their most serious depre-
dations are in orchards, although they
often do serious damage in lawns and
plantations adjoining woodlands by
eating bulbs and gnawing the roots of
shrubbery. In such situations they fire.
quently also destroy potatoes, peanuts,
and newly planted seeds Of truck crops.
Their concealed operations permit
them to do much harm before their
presence is suspected. For this rea-
son, also, they are less often the VIC
tins of birds OF prey.
Ordinary mouse traps Of the guillo-
tine type, baited with rolled oats and
set in runways of either meadow or
pine mice will free a small area Of the
animals, but for large areas or for op-
erations against considerable numbers
of these mice, polsons are recon-
mended.
For poisoning meadow mice on large
areas the following methods are rec
commended:
Dry-Grain FormuIa.-Mix thoroughly
one ounce powdered strychnine (alka-
loid), one ounce powdered bicarbonate
Of soda, and one-elghth ounce Cor less)
Of saccharine. Put the mixture in a
tin pepper box and sift it gradually
over so pounds of crushed wheat or 40
pounds of crushed oats in metal tub,
mixing the grain constantly so that the
poison will be evenly distributed. Dry
mixing has the advantage that the
grain may be kept any length Of time
without fermentation. If 1t is desired
to moisten the grain to facilitate thor
ough mixing, it will be well to use a
thin starch paste Gas described below,
but without strychnine) before apply
ing the poison. The starch soon hard
ems and fermentation is not likely to
follow.
If crushed oats or wheat cannot be
obtained, whole oats may be used, but
they should be of good quality. AS
mice hull the oats before eating them
it is desirable to have the poison pene-
trate the kernels. A very thin starch
paste is recommended as medium for
applying poison to the grain. Prepare
as follows:
victorian Formula.-DissOlve one
ounce Of strychnine (sulphate) in two
quarts of boiling water Dissolve two
tablespoonfuls of laundry starch in
half pint of cold water. Add the
starch to the strychnine solution and
boil for few minutes until the starch
is clear. Pour the hot starch over one
bushel of oats in metal tub and stir
thoroughly. Let the grain stand over
night to absorb the poison.
The poisoned grain prepared by ell
ther of the above formulas is to be
distributed over the infested area, not
more than a teaspoonful ut place,
care being taken to put 1t in mouse
runs and at the entrances of burrows.
To avoid destroying birds 1t should
whenever possible be placed under
such shelters as piles Of weeds, straw,
rush, or other litter, or under boards.
Small draintiles 1h inches in diameter
have sometimes been used to advan-
saRe to hold poisoned grain, but old tin