ABOUT RATS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1473, 28 June 1912, Page 9

ABOUT RATS.

_ 1 TALK WITH AN EXPERT. (By Telesrapli.-SBeclal Correspondent.! Auckland, Juno 27.^ "Hundreds of rat.i, and more to come," said an Auckland rat catcher, displaying a little army of vanquish rodents. I'or each head ha is i;<iid- the Mini of 3d aud it is quite- an easy nuuter for him to mike from 412 to £1 a week. The rats are of all sizes? queried the iutci'vie-wpr. "The biggest I've seen was rat. It was tho size of a cat." they breed quickly? According to tho theory of a medical man two rats can breed 1,700,000 of their species in a year. Ton see,, they have a'litter of eight every six weeks, lwo are males, the remaining six are icmales, and so the numbers are increased. It seems amazing, but it is perfectly true. Of course, nature ha; caused them to fi"ht amongst themselves; in fact, to cat each other-and in this way their ranks are decimated." How many do you catch in a day: , "Oh, about 30 or so, but if my time was wholly occuriied in tho business I could catch many more. Others have tried it, and made from 12s. to XI a dav but they usually throw it up alter a few days' work. Even the traps nro provided,'yet they do not bother." How do you catch them? "With c'hec-e, nniswd, or a sardine. The bait has to be frequently changed, owing to the cunning of .tho rat." How do they discover the plague when you hand them over to the Health Department? "IJy dissection. Then securing a piece of the liver or spleen, afterwards placiim an extract on the microscopic glass." T suppose it is a. paying game? "Well, yes; but I think it pretty hard lines that I and others have to share profits with the man who is looking after the building tiny are caught in. That's not the way to encourage the thing, and while there is crrl:iinly a law which ea?rs Iho wciy of the vat catchnr. =till where the money lies there you will find someone willin? to take a shn.ro of it." Would you urge a rat-catching campaicn? "Certainly. While there am no signs of pla.eue, 'and maybe none for many a day, still that is no excuse, for slackening down. House, factory, aud shopowners ought to α-nnroarh tho matter (seriously. The trouble ia fiuall, am! tho results undoubtedly ecodj" I