RAIDS BY RATS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLI, Issue 20340, 12 February 1936, Page 12

RAIDS BY RATS

MENACE AT ENGLISH ZOO An expert rat-catcher is now on the staff at Whipsnade Zoo He makes his rounds with gun and dog almost every day at dusk, writes Craven Hill, in the "Evening Standard,” London. His “bag” is frequently 50 rats. Last year 2022 caught in the park, an increase of nearly 1000 on the previous year. And they are still increasing. The authorities have one consolation; the rats help considerably to solve the feeding problem at the Koo reptile house in Regent’s Park. All rats killed at Whipsnade are sent up to London for this purpose. The bulk of the rats given to the snakes on Friday afternoons are Whipsnade rats. In other ways, however, this increase in the rat population is being viewed by the authorities with a good deal of concern, because of the damage done to buildings and to the stock. The rats of in which parts of the estate they can Whipsnade are very quick to discover pillage at will, and which parts it is healthier to avoid. Recently three Australian black swan cynets were set upon by a hungry horde of rats and murdered during the temporary absence of their parents; and one day last summer a tortoise had his feet nibbled while he slept. Again not long ago a rat got in among the marmots and killed one of these animals in fight. A keeper told me: “The rat menace here is a very real one, for they are spread over a much wider area than in Regent’s Park. Their cunning is astonishing. Even babies just out of the nest very soon come to know the inclosures in which they would receive short shift from the inhabitants. “Whipsnade Wood, for example, where there are forty wolves, is now absolutely clear of rats. If one goes inside it is chased and killed by the wolves. The lion pit, on the other hand, has many rats. The lions seem to regard the vermin as beneath their notice. “In tiger dell rats are constantly being killed. The tigers are much quicker than the rats themselves are, and even more cunning. Dead rats have been found in the burrows of the porcupines, too, showing that there had been a battle in which the porcupines had won. “Some of the rats shot by the ratcatcher recently have been enormous specimens. One looked almost as large as a rabbit. It measured 18 inches and weighed over 21b.