Evening star., 1944-06-08
This and That
By Charles Z. Trdce1DeI.
ARLINGTON. Va

"Dear Sir:
after thoroughly soaking our back
yard one afternoon, noticed q robin
throwing himself about with great
energy digging up Japanese beetle grabs.
He would dig up a second or third while
holding the first one in his bill and then
fly away with them. I suppose he was
taking them to his young ones or his
mate
Sometimes he would lay grub aside
while he coped with an earthworm, and
then pick up both. He ate as many
grubs as he wanted for himself. He
kept this up all afternoon and after
wards came every day whenever the
ground was wet.
MY neighbor mentioned seeing four
or five dark birds with orange spots at
the sides of their breasts busy digging
up japanese beetle grubs on their lawn
for several days. I wondered If they
could have been towhees A larger
number of birds seem to be going after
the grubs.
MY daughter, aged 7, acquired turtle
from small boy. 1t is the type Of land
turtle that I always called 'terrapin.'
Our nature book calls it box turtle.
1t says they wander through the woods
eating berries and fungi
"As we had none of these, we offered
him bread. To our surprise he ate it.,
rather cautiously. Next we offered cot
tage cheese. That he gobbled up with
out any caution at all. The next day he
greedily ate raw hamburger and a
strawberry.
After eating, he Immediately buried
himself in moist earth, head out. This
performance, eating and digging in, was
repeated for about q week.
"One day we noticed part of a row of
lettuce gone. 1t looked as though it had
been chewed of close to the ground.
The turtle had disappeared. For want
of any one else we were inclined to
blame him, although he had previously
refused lettuce.
This plainly shows the danger in ac-
cepting circumstantial evidence. A day
or so later glanced out and was amazed
to see large rat poking his head
through the picket fence and biting of
lettuce leaves.
Following the advice given In your
column, I sprinkled bits of bread with
a red squill powder, and dropped them
bCAlAAl0 tAiC pllC VI DOdIuS near tElG IeICe.
No more rats were seen.
Neither was the turtle seen again.
We concluded he must have squeezed
himself through the picket fence to
wander through the woods
Since we moved here from California
year and half ago we have enjoyed
reading your column.
Sincerely, v. r. W."
If every one would try to get rid of
rats on his own premises, great step
forward in rat control would be taken.
In addition, steps should be taken by
every householder to clean up the yard.
Piles of old lumber, or wood, are ex-
cellent rat refugees.
That forgotten space behind the
garage, where old wheelbarrows and the
like are stored, afford rambling rats
just the sort of undisturbed spot they
like best
Dry walls also are liked by rats. No
doubt it would be best to cement all
such constructions.
Feeding the birds does not draw rats.
If they appear, as they often do, at bird
feeding places, it simply means that the
seed and grain have drawn rats already
present.
The bird feeding simply pulls the rats
out into the open where they can be
seen and counted, and hence must be
regarded as an excellent thing, provided
that the householder then goes on to
take the necessary steps in rat control.
Every neighborhood has rats They
live in the sewers, and come out at night
to see what they can find, and also for
a stroll in fresh air, since rats are
venturesome and intelligent animals.
Great care should be used in putting
out poison for them Red squill is best,
since it merely kills rats, which have
no vomit reflex. Other animals are able
to get rid Of the squil, although 1t makes
them pretty sick.
Red squill may be purchased in two
forms, the powder, and canned bait.
The latter is the easiest to use. 1t is
best poked back into holes and crevices
where small animals and birds cannot
| get at 1t.