Middletown transcript., 1922-03-18
RACE SUICIDE TO
KILL OFF RATS
British Zoo Director Says Pres
ent Methods Are WRONG.
WOULD KILL ONLY FEMALES
men the Males Will Fight Each
otner and Eventually Destroy the
6reed-Four Males and sjx Fe.
males, Given Sufficient Food, viii
increase to 10000 Females and
10000 Males Within Two Years-
Proven by Denmark's ExperIence. /

Hreat Brltain'S strenuous efforts.
during the National Rat week lust
closed, to destroy the rodents said to
nave been responsible for the destruc-
t'ol OF Sl4o,00O,OO0 worth Of food
last year, are pronounced by an Eng.
lsh scientist to be completely and ex-
actly wrong.
| According to this authority, the
ministry of health in encouraging the
wholesale and indiscriminate slaughter
OF rats in the British Isles is merely
improving living conditions for the
survivors, whose progeny In less than
q year Will be as populous as before
There Is only one way to rid the world
OF rats, says this man, and that is to
appeal to biological laws, to upset the
numerical proportions, between the
sexes and then leave the males to de-
stroy their own race.
This advocate of sexual selection in
place of rat poison is Director George
Jennison of the Manchester Geological
Gardens, who, in recent appeal to
the sanitary authorities of England,
says:
Can't XIII Them All.
when one realizes the enormous
fecundity of rats-a fecundity so great
that four males and six females, given
sufficient food will increase to 10000
females and 10000 males within two
years-it becomes apparent that hit-or-
miss methods will never work. You
cant XIII them all by human efforts
and If you let single pair escape
you will have presently the same
swarms as before.
"These rat crusades are all wrong.
As everybody knows, the male rat is
tie bolder, the one who roves abroad
iecklessly, and he Is the one who is
caught in these indiscriminate attacks.
This decrease in the males means more
FOOD and more quiet for the females
Who, undisturbed, breed prolifcally
and soon restore the number.
"Denmark's experience proves this
completely. Denmark began In 1907
the policy of the indiscriminate kill
Ing of rats. She had a most elaborate
ana eihcient system. In 1907 she killed
$4,000 rats, the vast majority of
whom were males. But eight years
later, with the system still In force,
she killed 10000 rats She had made
no headway whatever. To be sure,
she killed only $4,000 last year, but
that decrease-as she admits herself
ls due to the food famine conditions
prevailing there during the war.
"The only scientific course is to
turn your back resolWely on this in
discriminate slaughter and delihe--
ately upset the balance of the sexes.
Rat poison should be forbidden. Like
wise shooting rats, or catching them
IN spring traps that kill them. The.
thing to do Is to catch them alive in
traps or trap rooms, examine them,
destroy the females and turn the males
loose.
Destroy the Race.
"That may sound like a fantastic
suggestion, but every experienced
English game keeper follows exactly
the same procedure when he wants
to increase or decrease game on a
know, two male rats to every three
females. If you disturb this balance.
so that there are two males to every
female, you destroy the race, first by
setting the males against each other
and secondly by forcing them to harry
the does in the breeding season.
I'VE have been following this meth
nd for In,
ical Gardens. In 1915, when we be-
gan, we caught, on an average, IS rats
month. By destroying the females
and releasing the males, we have now
cut the population down visibly; we
now catch only about 1S rats a
month.
America has afforded biologists a
striking example, all unintentfonally,
of the success Of this method. l re-
fer to the total destruction Of the pas
senger pigeon In America. At. one
time the fiocks numbered hundreds Of
thousands, hpt hunters, setting them
selves to catch the female while on her
nest In the breeding season, upset the
balance and in few decades COM
PiC'Ciy hNStiosCu opCSlCs.
"Rodier of Melbourne, Australia, Is
trying to persuade the people Of
that continent to follow this method
In attacking the rabbit pest, which, In
spite of all efforts, is growing worse
each year. Every new settler In
creases the food supply and multiplies
the number of rabbits. The waste In
r,o,o,, ie c1an nna 0nn = ,,oor - -
creaslng yearly. The rabbits are
poisoned and trapped and shot in such
huge numbers that blowflies infest the
air in certain seasons. But 1t is hope
less. The Australians can make no
headway until they enlist sexual selec-
tion on their side, kill all the females.N
release the males and set the latter to
destroy the breed.
Englands crusade against rats dates
from the passage Of the rat act Of
1918, which makes householder who
'harbors" rats or mice liable to 4
fine of $50. I
Mean Trick.
Johnnie and Jimmie could not agree
With the little Browns next door. but
they were fond of the Browns dog,
Buster, so much SO that they invited
hin to their show because Buster could
do tricks. IL
The show started and was well along
when Johnnie and Jimmie rushed In to
their mother, and with many tears and
lamentations walled out:
"We had our show goin' 80 good.
and Buster was doin' one Of his best
tricks. when them mean Brown kids