USE OF FERRETS AND DOGS.
A ferret is useful for the purpose of driving rats out of burrows and other hiding places so that dogs can capture them. An experienced person with dogs and ferrets trained to work together can kill many rats when they are numerous. But the amateur ferreter is likely to be greatly disappointed.
In the rice fields of the far East the natives build numerous piles of brush and rice straw and leave them for several days until many rats have taken shelter in them. A portable bamboo inclosure several feet in height is then set up around each pile in succession and the straw and brush are thrown out over the top while dogs and men kill the trapped rodents. Large numbers are killed in this way, and the plan with modifications may be utilized in America with satisfactory results. A wire netting of fine mesh may be used for the inclosure. The scheme is applicable at the removal of grain, straw, or hay stacks, as well as brush piles.