Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1924-05-01
HOW TO GET RID OF
RATS IN THE HOUSE
Thorough Cleanliness Dis
coarages Presence.

(PrepareC ~ the United States Department
Of Agri4ulture.)
Thorough cleanliness and orderlineSS
discourage the presence of rats and
constitute a strong incentive for them
to seek other quarters. To eliminate
food and hiding places entirely is to
eliminate rats. This is not always pos
sible, but the nearer the approach to
this condition the more simple the rat
radiance problem becomes.
The most important means of elimi-
mating food and shelter are to store
foodstuffs in rat-proof containers, to
dispose of waste and garbage in tight
Uncovered vessels and to prevent the
accumulation of trash, refuse and
other similar material. Not only does
lack of food and shelter reduce the
breeding of rats, but increased hunger
renders poisoning and trapping more
effective
The most efficient means known to
the department for destroying rats is
by poisoning, and poison is recon-
mended for the purpose wherever it
can be used with safety. Powdered
barium carbonate Is an inexpensive
mineral, and seems best adapted for
poisoning rats 1t is both odorless
and tasteless, and bats containing it
are readily taken by these pests. 1t
also has the advantage of being slow
in IT'S action, so that rats affected by
1t usually have time to leave the prem
iSes in search Of water or to return
to their burrows before they succumb.
A variety of bats used separately
not only gives the rat choice of foods
but tends to make it less suspicious.
One kind Of each OF the following
classes of food mixed with barium car
Donate is recommended:
(D Meat or other animal substance.
Hamburg steak, sausage, fish, liver,
bacon, or cheese.
(2) Vegetables and fruits.-Thin
slices of muskmelon, apple, tomato,
or cucumber, canned corn, or squash
or pumpkin seed; or mashed banana,
boiled carrot, or baked sweet potato.
e Cereals-Rolled oats, bread, corn
meal, flour or cake. Kitchen scraps
and garbage can be worked into the
ration to advantage.
Bats should be fresh and preferably
of good quality.
The powdered barium carbonate
should be thoroughly mixed and
worked into the soft bats in the pro-
portion of / part of the mineral to
parts of the selected food. Add water
when necessary to make the bats
moist Bats moistened to the consist
ency of soft mush are particularly
acceptable to rats in dry weather
Barfum carbonate should be sifted
over sliced. baits and rubbed we'll into
them with the fingers or a knife. The
slices should be thin and should be
moistened if necessary in order to at
tain as nearly as possible the l to
ratio. Soft bats may be mixed with
the hands or with spoon.
A teaspoonful, or its equivalent, of
each of the three or more kinds of
bats prepared, should be exposed in
places frequented by rats. In build
ingS bats should be set on strips OF
paper or boards where they may be
easily removed.
/, A convenient and successful method
of exposing bats is to place a tea
spoonful in each Of number of small
paper sacks and drop them in places
accessible to rats or frequented by
them. The sacks should be closed by
twisting the top. Bait distributed in
this manner serves to allay the suspi-
cion of rats and will be taken by them
more readily than If exposed in the
open.
Barium carbonate is a relatively
mild poison, but the danger from acct
dents cannot be overemphasized.
Keep 1t out of the reach of children
and irresponsible persons and from
domestic animals and fowls.