Part 6

The measures needed for repressing and eliminating rats and mice include the following:

1. The requirement that all new buildings erected shall be made rat-proof under competent inspection.

2. That all existing rat-proof buildings shall be closed against rats and mice by having all openings accessible to the animals, from foundation to roof, closed or screened by door, window, grating, or meshed wire netting.

3. That all buildings not of rat-proof construction shall be made so by remodeling, by the use of materials that may not be pierced by rats, or by elevation.

4. The protection of our native hawks, owls, and smaller predatory mammals--the natural enemies of rats.

5. Greater cleanliness about markets, grocery stores, warehouses, courts, alleys, stables, and vacant lots in cities and villages, and like care on farms and suburban premises. This includes the storage of waste and garbage in tightly covered vessels and the prompt disposal of it each day.

6. Care in the construction of drains and sewers, so as not to provide entrance and retreat for rats. Old brick sewers in cities should be replaced by concrete or tile.

7. The early threshing and marketing of grains on farms, so that stacks and mows shall not furnish harborage and food for rats.

8. Removal of outlying straw stacks and piles of trash or lumber that harbor rats in fields and vacant lots.

9. The keeping of provisions, seed grain, and foodstuffs in rat-proof containers.

10. Keeping effective rat dogs, especially on farms and in city warehouses.

11. The systematic destruction of rats, whenever and wherever possible, by (a) trapping, (b) poisoning, and (c) organized hunts.

12. The organization of clubs and other societies for systematic warfare against rats.

FOOTNOTES:

Mus musculus.

Rattus norvegicus.

Rattus rattus rattus.

Rattus rattus alexandrinus.

Farmers' Bulletin 461, Use of Concrete on the Farm, will prove useful to city and village dwellers as well as to the farmer.

Scilla maritima.

CAUTION.--Carbon disulphid is very inflammable and can be ignited by a match, lantern, cigar, or pipe.

Farmers' Bulletin 699.

PUBLICATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE RELATING TO NOXIOUS MAMMALS.

AVAILABLE FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION.

How to Destroy Rats. (Farmers' Bulletin 369.)

The Common Mole of Eastern United States. (Farmers' Bulletin 583.)

Field Mice as Farm and Orchard Pests. (Farmers' Bulletin 670.)

Cottontail Rabbits in Relation to Trees and Farm Crops. (Farmers' Bulletin 702.)