Evening star., 1949-08-03
This and That
By Charles E. TraceweH
Are Georgetown rats the largest?
nHo raadar fhinkc ca

OIle reader LllnkS Sc.
Residents of other communities might
dispute this claim. A big rat is a fearsome
looking creature. 1t belongs to other worlds
than ours. and yet it lives right along with
us. and feeds off food dropped or care
lessly thrown away.
Bird feeding sometimes draws rats, but
actually this is good thing. by showing
the householder how many of these rodents
abound in even the cleanest neighborhoods.
The Georgetown rats. according to this
resident. make large holes in the garden.
Red squill was chosen to GUST them. since
this material is not supposed to harm birds
or other animals.
Rats, lacking the vomit reflex, cannot get
rid of the squill.
1t Is best put far down the holes, and
taken up within three days, If not eaten.
1t Is best not to place it so birds. squirrels,
dogs or cats can get at it.
I'VE decided to put out red squill," says
the Georgetown resident.
I'VE have many birds and squirrels that
come daily. To our delight, gentle little
chipmunk has Joined them.
I'VE certainly didn't want to harm them.
I'VE put the squill In the holes and filled
them with stones.
THE next day, the chipmunk didn't come.
and we were heavy-hearted. for fear he
day.
But early the next morning he appeared,
as clipper as could be. So now all is well,
and there are no more rats"
Excellence in rat size Is nothing for COM
munity to boast about. certainly.
The little ones, however are just as bad,
though not so ferocious looking.
It isn't exactly the weight. as the way a
rat lives.
Despite their plain danger to man, the
rat might be considered an abused animal,
since he is seldom given the opportunity to
live we'll.
He necessarily, with all mems hands
against him, lives in the dark, and comes
out only at night. in the main.
y
Actually, the rat is not bad looking
animal.
He, too, belongs to the great rodent family,
the largest on earth.
His babies are cute, as all babies are.
We once watched two young rats play tag
around the bird feeding station early in the
morning.
Had the observer not known them to be
rats .he would have called them pretty.
Their coloring was neat, and their sill
houettes good.
The Norway rat, often called the brown,
rat. barn rat. wharf rat, even gray rat, is
our commoneSt
He grows to total length of almost Is
inches and is bold fighter, when cornered,
sometimes cowing large dogs.
This species is said to have been intro
duced TO America from both the Atlantic
and Pacific oceans.
Black rats were introduced into North
America first coming by way of South
America, to which they had been brought
from the Orient.
The more savage brown rat, however,
finally drove them all out.
This brown or Norway rat is universally
destructive. No one should tolerate it, and
with the aid of red squill. need not
More virulent poisons should never be
used around the home. as they are deadly to
humans. their pets and the birds.
Experts declare that the depredations of
the brown rat are by no means confined
to its food needs. It simply likes to destroy.
Rats breed three to five times year.
1t may help some persons to know that
our native American rats are clean fellows.
The wood rat. for instance. is said to be
good eating, and the muskrat is simply a
large mouse In the guise Of small beaver.