Issued May 31, 1907.
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
FARMERS' BULLETIN 297.
METHODS OF DESTROYING RATS.
BY
DAVID E. LANTZ,
Assistant, Bureau of Biological Survey.
WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
1907.
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.
U. S. Department of Agriculture,
Bureau of Biological Survey,
Washington, D. C., May 15, 1901.
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith for publication Farmers'Bulletin No. 297, containing concise directions for the destruction ofrats, prepared by David E. Lantz, an assistant in this Bureau. Thedamage done by these rodents, both in cities and in the country, isenormous, and the calls for practical methods of destroying them arecorrespondingly numerous and urgent. It is believed that by followingthe directions here given the numbers of this pest can be greatlyreduced and the losses from them proportionally diminished.
Respectfully,
C. Hart Merriam,
Chief, Biological Survey.
Hon. James Wilson,
Secretary of Agriculture.
CONTENTS.
Page.
Introduction 3
Methods of destroying rats 4
Poisoning 4
Trapping 5
Use of ferrets and dogs 6
Fumigation 7
Rat-proof construction 7
Natural enemies of rats 8
Conclusions 8
ILLUSTRATION.
Page.
Fig. 1.—Method of baiting guillotine trap 6
METHODS OF DESTROYING RATS.
INTRODUCTION.
The brown or Norway rat (Mus norvegicus) is the worst mammal pest inthe United States, the losses from its depredations amounting to manymillions of dollars yearly—to more, indeed, than the losses from allother injurious mammals combined.[A] In addition to its destructivehabits, this rat is now known to be an active agent in disseminatinginfectious diseases, a fact which renders measures for its destructiondoubly important.
[A] Several species of r