DEATH DUE TO FRIGHT

Otago Witness, Issue 3444, 16 March 1920, Page 62

DEATH DUE TO FRIGHT

EXTERMINATION OF RATS. SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENTS. {Fbom Odb Own Corbespondent.) LONDON, January 8. On account of the enormous amount of i damage annually done on ship board, in stores and granaries by rats —totalling millions of pounds—various experiments have recently been tried to exterminate the expensive nuisance, and now the Medical Officer for the City of London is able to recommend the use of varnish as one of the most effective means of destroying rats on a . large scale. j The substance Dr Howarth tells of i» ' strong lithographic varnish. It should be> warmed by heating the container holding it, : in boiling water. When warm the varnish will run, and in this condition it should be spread one-sixteenth to one-eighth of an inch thick on pieces of strawboard or fairly thick cardboard measuring .about 15in by 12in. A margin of about an inch should be left clear of the varnish, and the bait placed in the centre of the board" where it will adhere to the varnish. The traps should be placed among the rat runs, or near the holes. They remain effective for about four days, when the old varnish should be scraped off and a fresh layer applied. "We have had 'bags' of 60 and 80, ' he says, "and I can recommend it as an excellent means of ridding a place of rats. ! Disappointments arise chiefly through the ! varnish being too weak or too 'tacky.' , This allows the rats to move_ on it with ! impunity. We are endeavouring to meet ; that possibility by standardising the quality : of the varnish, which is not-poc'sonous, and a coroner'e jury would probably ascribe death to natural causes following a shock. I think that the rate die of fright. Once their tails stick their doom is sealed. They never get near the bait. They get their ; feet in the varnish, and the more they. ; struggle the faster they sfe'ek. Rats caught i during the night are always dead in the ■ morning, and it is a very thing that if two rats get on to the varnish together one of them kills the other. Evi- ! dently each thinks that the other is holding ! him. Then there is a battle royal, and • ! we find one with its neck bitten through. | As to the cruelty of it ;> we cannot afford to j waste sentiment, and it is certainly not as ! cruel as. phosphorous poison, which takes about four hours to kill." i Ferrets, as ratters, are scarce nowadays, ' because their skins are sold as ermine, and : it is recorded that firms are, giving 15s I a-piece. The white varieties, as well as the i polecat type, are in demand, and agriculturists are urging that something should be done to stop the practice. PHARMACISTS AND RAT DESTRUCTION. A striking paper in the Pharmaceutical i Journal shows how widely the question of ! rat destruction is being taken up; Pharmacists are urged to advise householders, farmers, allotment holders, and others how i best' to deal with the matter. They are ' advised to stock Red Squill preparations and to acquaint themselves with the best ways of laying baits. Methods of using ■ carbonate of barium and suitable deodorant I solutions are also considered, chloride of zinc with a little perfume of pine wood oil beino- recommended. Mention is made _of the "various devices needed for destroying rats by chemical fumigation, and pharmai cists are advised to sell their preparations ! on a strictly reasonable basis because if they endeavour to charge fancy prices local authorities may decide to supply rat poison direct to the public.