BAY OF PLENTY BEACON Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 1949 RATS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 82, 4 May 1949, Page 4

BAY OF PLENTY BEACON Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 1949 RATS

We are, or should be, right in the midst of the anti-rat campaign. And that is something which should be taken seriously by every citizen, not only now the campaign .is on, but at all times.

Sly, sneaking filthy vermin, carriers of death-dealing diseases, rats are foes to be feared and fought. So cunning are they, so well-versed in the arts of selfpreservation, that only the whole-hearted co-operation of everyone can stay their depredations.

The factors making for an increase in the number of rats are an ample and readily available supply of food and water, and the existence of good nesting and breeding places. Such conditions result in a high-birth rate and a low infant mortality rate with a consequent rapid increase in the rat population. Rats begin to breed when only three months old and five litters may be born in a year. As some species produce an average of six to the litter the maximum number of offspring in 12 months may be well over a thousand for a single pair. They are so prolific that their number is limited only by the food supply and the opportunity for nesting. Rats are the reservoir and source of. a number of diseases of men. They are not only “carriers” of the germs of several specific diseases, but, as they feed on the rotting filth in drains, fowl houses and refuse tips, they carry this filth on their bodies to contaminate our foodstuffs. For the East Coast Health District cases of food poisoning and other infections which give rise to acute gastro-enteritis are reported from time to time, and it may be fairly claimed that a proportion of these cases can be attributed to rats. Recently there have also been cases reported of children being admitted to hospital after being bitten by rats, and there are many other instances on record of children being attacked, and even killed by them.

Active suppressive measures are essential primarily from a hygienic viewpoint, but they can aiso be fully justified on economic grounds. Eats eat vast quantities of grain and foodstuffs, and destroy by pollution much more than they eat. They cause fires and destroy crops, merchandise and property. To bring the rat population under control, an organised effort to kill off large numbers is now necessary, and that is the object of the present campaign. The campaign can be successful only if all residents support it as a public duty and make a conscientious effort to rid their own premises of these vermin.