FACTS ABOUT RATS

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 153, 25 March 1944, Page 6

FACTS ABOUT RATS

Man’s Priority Menace PROPAGATORS OF DISEASE The chairman of the Wellington City Council health committee, Air, R. H. Nimmo, recently declared that it was everyone’s duty to wage war against rats by every means available. It is probably correct that concerted action against rats has always been a matter of fits and starts. In contrast the rat w_ages war against mankind every second of the day, year in, year out. Possibly for that reason, the rat is winning. There is need for unceasing war against rats. Rat campaigns _and rat weeks should be stepped up till 52. weeks in the year are rat weeks. Despite the efforts of the last decade there are more rats in the civilized world today than there ever were. It has been estimated that the damage done by rats among a community whose population is 40,000,000 amounts to £250,000,000 annually. This huge loss takes place every year despite the fact that a community of that size destroys in its larger cities a total of 60,000 rats a year. The more that figure is reduced the greater the damage costs. It is estimated that one rat will destroy at least 10/- worth of produce a year. The cost to Auckland has been put at £l. People living in cities maintain five rats. for each person. Those rats are maintained out of rates, taxes, and increased prices for what food remains for human consumption. Some idea of the task that lias been set civilized communities in their battle against the rat may be had from the fact that ruts make up their losses remarkably quickly. A rat' produces at least four litters a year, averaging eight young in each litter. Assuming the rat does not have a first litter till it is six months old, a pair of rats will produce 136 in one year, 5858 in two years, aqd 253,762 descendants in three years. In the fourth year the figures reach astronomical proportions, totalling 10,934,690. Admittedly these figures are never reached, for various natural reasons. Nevertheless, they indicate the astounding capacity the rat population possesses to repair losses. Actually rats have not yet been extended in their capacity to fill the ranks after a rat week or a rat campaign lasting perhaps a month or several months. There are probably 1,000,000 rats in Wellington. If every rat were destroyed today except one pair, it would be a matter of only a few years before the totals were restored. Aloreorer, the fewer ratg the more difficult it is to destroy them. When the Rats Won. One may be inclined tp latlgh at the rat menace. Sceptics should consider the plight of settlers in Tristan ‘la Cunha. Some eight years ago the settlers discovered they had fought- a losing battle against rats. The crops were lost to rats and the entire population was forced off the island on to Inaccessible Island in the same group, where there were no rats. . Eventually the settlers were removed from both islands by a vessel specially chartered for the purpose. The rats had won. Apart from the costs of maintaining rats in civilized communities, this pest has a distinct danger from the health point of view. Food contaminated by rats is definitely dangerous to eat, containing as it may parasitical infection of various unpleasant types. Aloreover, the fleas which infest rats are capable of carrying bubonic plague to human beings. One may laugh at this, but it has been proved almost conclusively that the hideous afflictions which repeatedly devastated Europe for centuries were carried almost exclusively by rats. The famous Black Death was a rat-propagated plague. It is by no means certain that rats dp not also pass on influenza epidemics and other diseases. Rats live on the fat of the land. If communities make it easy for rats to obtain food, rats will flourish. Deny rats food and their numbers must fall.. There are other methods of keeping rats in control from traps to poison gas. Nevertheless, the rat population has learned quite a lot in the last million years or so. As man gets cuter so do the rats. Numerous bacilli fatal to rats exclusively have been tried out. The rats, however, eventually become immune. Oslo, Norway, determined to make a job of its rats in i 1930. In a week To tons of poison was laid. The 600,000 rats in Oslo may have lost a small fraction of their numbers as the result of poison. The rest, however, were seen marching out of town into the country villages. Not a rat remained. After a sojourn in' the country, the rats returned when the poison had been removed or had decayed. It is said that the smell of guinea pig will keep rats away. Apparently rats dislike the smell of these creatures and vacate the area. “Poisons and traps for rats are legion. Strong lithographic varnish spread on thick cardboard about a foot by a foot in size is effective if a tasty piece of cheese be placed in the middle. The rats get bogged down and can’t get off. lhe varnish should be thinned by warming the container in boiling water. Another effective method is an old-fashioned wire trap baited with a live rat. Admittedly you have to catch your bait first. A beef bone, if one is still available, _ usually starts the proceedings satisfactorily. It is declared in Christchurch that epsoiu salts are fatal to rats. It is understood that this progressive city, is now conducting experiments to determine the best way to induce rats to take their morning dose. Another method which proved effective on the Continent was to kill off female rats. The male rats. then fought one another for the remaining females and killed themselves off. The rest of the female rat population then died of broken hearts.