Methods of Destroying Rats

by David E. Lantz

A compilation of all the methods of destroying rats practiced in historic times would fill a volume. Unfortunately, the greater number of them are worthless or impracticable. Few have more than temporary effect upon their numbers, and even the best of them fail unless persistently applied. Conditions vary so much that no one method of dealing with this pest is applicable in all cases. Among the more important measures to be recommended for actively combating the brown rat are: (1) Poisons; (2) traps; (3) ferrets; (4) fumigation, and (5) rat-proof construction of buildings.

POISONING.

Barium Carbonate.—One of the cheapest and most effective poisons for rats and mice is barium carbonate, or barytes. This mineral has the advantage of being without taste or smell; and, in the small quantities used in poisoning rats and mice, is harmless to larger animals. Its action on rodents is slow, but reasonably sure, and has the further advantage that the animals before dying, if exit be possible, usually leave the premises in search of water. Its employment in houses, therefore, is rarely followed by the annoying odor which attends the use of the more virulent poisons.

The poison may be fed in the form of a dough made of one-fifth barytes and four-fifths meal, but a more convenient bait is ordinary oatmeal, with about one-eighth of its bulk of barytes, mixed with water into a stiff dough; or the barytes may be spread upon bread and butter or moistened toast. The prepared bait should be placed in rat runs, a small quantity at a place. If a single application of the poison fails to drive all rats from the premises, it should be repeated with a change of bait.

Strychnine.—Strychnine is a more virulent poison, but its action is so rapid that the animals often die upon the premises, a circumstance which prohibits its use in occupied dwellings. Elsewhere strychnine may be employed with great success. Dry strychnine crystals may be inserted in small pieces of raw meat, Vienna sausage, or toasted cheese, and these placed in the rat runs; or oatmeal may be wet with a strychnine sirup, and small quantities laid out in the same way.

Strychnine sirup is prepared as follows: Dissolve a half ounce of strychnia sulphate in a pint of boiling water; add a pint of thick sugar sirup and stir thoroughly. A smaller quantity of the poison may be prepared with a proportional quantity of water. In preparing the bait it is necessary that all the oatmeal should be moistened with sirup. Wheat is the most convenient alternative bait. It should be soaked over night in the strychnine sirup.

Other Poisons.—The two poisons most commonly used for rats and mice are arsenic and phosphorus, nearly all commercial preparations containing one or the other as a basis. While experiments prove that rats have great powers of resistance to arsenic, it may sometimes be used advantageously as an alternative poison. Preparations of phosphorus sold by druggists are often too weak to be effective; and home-made mixtures, when of sufficient strength, are dangerous, as rats may carry the baits into walls or crannies and thus cause fires. For these and other reasons the Biological Survey does not recommend preparations containing phosphorus.

Poison in the Poultry House.—For poisoning rats in buildings and yards occupied by poultry, the following method is recommended: Two wooden boxes should be used, one considerably larger than the other, and each having two or more holes in the sides large enough to admit rats. The poisoned bait should be placed on the bottom and near the middle of the larger box, and the smaller box should then be inverted over it. Rats thus have free access to the bait, but fowls are excluded.

TRAPPING.

Trapping, if persistently followed, is one of the most effective methods of destroying rats. The improved modern traps with a wire fall released by a baited trigger and driven by a coiled spring have marked advantages over the old forms, and many of them may be used at the same time. These traps, sometimes called guillotine traps, are of many designs, but the more simply constructed are to be preferred. Probably those made entirely of metal are the best, as they are less likely to absorb and retain odors.