RURAL RAT CONTROL

foreign areas have special problems of rat control a Farm by its very nature is a factory for producing food the presence of large quantities of food often easily available is a constant invitation to rats as well as the animals for which it is intended a farmer who feeds rats and gives them a place to live will suffer economic loss from rats and be threatened with rat-borne diseases yet in spite of conditions that favor Rat Life a farm can be free of rats if the farmer understands rat habits and makes intelligent use of basic rat control measures each Farm is an island of rat life rats generally stay on a farm as long as there's food and heart reach they rarely migrate to another Farm the farmer has complete control of rat life on his own Farm rats Harbor as close as possible to food sources a corn crib built on or near the ground provides both harborage and unlimited food for rats wooden feed bins like this one in the cow barn are made to order for rats they gnaw through the wood with ease which gives them an unlimited supply of food much to their liking the hay nearby provides ideal harborage it will support dozens of rats indefinitely this chicken house provides harborage in the walls and under the wooden floors and a plentiful supply of both food and water rats always manage to get their share of available food and water rats thrive in open hog feeding areas food is plentiful usually in pleasing variety and the Rats frequently live in burrows near this food supply The Farmhouse too will have its quarter of rats if there is an entrance into the house this basement room can be a center of rat infestation which may spread to other parts of the house not only stored food but waste food provides good rat fare rats find harborage in such places as this pile of old Lumber and junk they carry food to their Burrows so they can eat it in safety it is obvious that a rat colony of considerable size is well established in these fine rat living quarters to eliminate rats access to food and harborage must be cut off raising the Corn Crib on Piers about two feet high leaves a clear area underneath and eliminates rat harborage metal flashing over the wood base prevents Rats from knowing through and makes access to food impossible the feed bin in the cow barn can be rat proofed by putting metal flashing on all the knowing edges the rat proofed lid should fit tightly with the bin rat proofed and no spillage the rats must find other food the chicken house can be rat proofed at small expense by putting in a concrete floor and eliminating the harborage in the wall no rats can live under the floor nor in these open walls to help reduce the food and harborage available to rats the hog feeding area should be concreted uneaten food or waste should be carefully removed every day the first step in eliminating Rats from this basement storage room is Good Housekeeping food should be stored neatly on shelves with the bottom shelf at least 18 inches off the floor the space below should be kept clear and clean metal Channel and cups rat proof the storage room door this blocks the only means of Entry of rats into the storage room junk has been thrown away Lumber stacked 18 inches off the floor as it should be wherever it is kept on the farm there is a minimum of rat harborage and access of rats to food is difficult it is equally important to clean up the area around garbage cans spilled food is rat food a raised platform makes it impossible for rats to Harbor under the garbage the container should always be kept closed with a tight-fitting lid final disposal of all waste which might be attractive to rats can be accomplished with the one-man sanitary landfill a suitable location near the house is selected and stepped off the sanitary landfill is a trench which can be dug by hand or any power tools available it should be at least three feet deep two feet wide and as long as necessary each load of waste material should be compacted then covered with at least 24 inches of compacted Earth any long-range plan of rat control requires elimination of rat harborage everywhere on the farm and cutting off the food supply existing rats should be killed a small amount of calcium cyanide is pumped into the rat Burrows then dispersed into the borrow system with air red squill is used for poisoning the rats in this Barn because the calcium cyanide would kill other animals the red squill is mixed with rolled oats and for variety fresh ground meat each kind of bait is rolled into a paper package called a torpedo for convenient handling one torpedo of each bait is placed at every baiting post along the rat runs always use plenty of bait better too much than too little the board keeps other animals from finding the poisoned bait red squill is an emetic and is safe for all animals that can regurgitate rats cannot regurgitate which makes red squill almost a specific rat poison it kills in 36 to 72 hours and the Rats usually die in or near their harborages to find out if all the rats have been killed tracking patches are laid out in the rat runs ordinary commercial talcum or flower can be used the tracking patches are laid at several places where rats are likely to travel for example in the Run leading back of the feed bin and another by the hay tracking patches are used because natural rat signs age so slowly that it would take weeks to check on the rats any other way the next day the tracking patch by the hay proves that several rats are still in the barn so steel traps are set along rat runs in several locations in this Barn he sets about 10 traps the rats may not get caught in the steel trap so the tracking patches are smoothed as a check against the rats which might be avoiding the Trap a rat does get caught in the Trap by the hay the next morning the farmer checks the traps the rat that sprung this trap will not be likely to be fooled by it again the farmer replaces it with an expanded trigger trap which is an ordinary wood snap trap with an enlarged trigger again he Smooths the tracking patch so he will know whether any rats get by this trap that night the rat gets caught the next morning the farmer resets the Trap and Smooths out the tracking patch if no rats are caught for several days and there are no tracks in the tracking patches the barn is considered rat free although the food story Drew in the basement has been cleaned up and rat proofed these droppings show that some rats remain to be killed since red squill has been used here already an alternative rat poison is warfarin when Warfarin and a dark discoloring agent is mixed with cornmeal it is tasteless and odorless and readily accepted by rats in this basement the farmer will set out at least two bait boxes with Warfarin the boxes are placed in the rat runs the pan is filled with the poisoned cornmeal tracking patches may be used to find out if rats are refusing to enter The Bait Box the other Bait Box is set at the opposite side of the room the effect of Warfarin is cumulative the rats must feed repeatedly on the poison four from five to fifteen days before they die they usually die in about a week this cumulative effect of the poison over such a long period is a safety factor for other animals that might eat the bait no rat signs after four or five days is a reliable check that the basement is now rat free once the farm is free of rats it must be kept that way frequent inspections for rat signs should be a part of the regular Farm routine rat control is a part of Good Farming it costs money to support rats and every rat is a threat to the health of the people on the farm deny rats food and hybrids many will die and the rest can be easily killed check every building and feed bin on the farm and rat proof all of them the procedure is the same all over the farm leave no place for a single rat to live and find ways to take away his food supply outside and inside keep every place clean get rid of all such open invitations to rats as this store waste where rats can't get it then bury it in a sanitary landfill kill rats with every practical means calcium cyanide red squill Warfarin or traps then check results every Farm can be freed of rats through the use of basic control measures on this island of rat life the farmer does have complete control