HEALTH NOTES.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5362, 10 December 1928, Page 3

HEALTH NOTES.

THE RAT.

MENACE TP HEALTH.

(Contributed by the Department of Health.)

Public health authorities everywhere r.ec.qgnise the increasing sanitary and economic menace of the rat. As the active agent in the spread of bubonic plague the ret is responsible for the almost WOrld-wide prevalence of this disease, which during the twenty-yeap period ended in 1923 killed over 11,000,000 people in India alone. They create also great eccnmic disturbance by the destruction of food and property. Notwithstanding the depredation *oif rats, resulting in considerable flancial loss, the general public are inclined to, view the situation with complacency. This (states our overseas bulletin) leads inevitably to the conclusion that mankind is either unaware of the teeming, rat life and its effects upon the body politic or is completely indifferent to (he dangers and to the cost of feeding and) providing recreation for these parasitic rodents. RAT DESTRUCTION.

To combat the rat successfully man must bee,erne familiar with its habits of living and breeding, and know its dietary preferences. Methods of combat must be studied, and the proper application of the most efficient of these must be better understood- In the age-o)d fight for survival the rat has learned lessons of sagacity, patience, and agility which fit well for a contest in which man must exercise his ingenuity to the utmost if he would win. MEASURES OF ATTACK.

Direct measures of attack have but a limited usefulness in the hands of the public. Trapping with snap qr cage traps, the use of poison baits, the aggression of such natural antagonists as dogs, cats, ferrets, weasels, etc,, and fumigation with piosonous gases, all may be resorted to; but .with the exception of trapping they cannot be recommended for ■us by the inexperienced householder. Rat suppressive measures, if universally prosecuted, will do more to make life hazardous for the pest than, the application of destructive agents. The most effective suppressive measure is to separate the Bat from its customary food supply. This procedure should be followed in most scrupulous detail in the home, the place of business, and wherever foodstuffs are stored or handled. Bulk foods in the home should! be kept in rat-proof containers, and every occupied residential premises should be .equipped! with a rat-tigjht garbage cab. Garbage dumps should be eliminated from every Community, and garbage and Offal f r °m slaughterhouses Should be burned HABITS. - Rats require safe covert when carrying on their ordinary affairs, and the elimination of hiding-places makes life more difficult and! dangerr ous. The brown rat (Rattus Ndrwegicus) prefers to live at or below the level of the ground, and the female will burrow beneath plank flooring. or concrete paving with exposed edges to find a safe location for the nest. The roiof rat (Rattus Alexandrinus) and the black or “ship” rat (Rattus rattus) look for. double walls and dusty attics, where they find protection from their arch enemy the more ferocious but less agile brp.wn, or “slewer,” rat. The elimination cjf the hiding places customarily frequented by these animals restricts breeding to an extent second only to' starvation, so it will pay the public well to keep the rat on the run. In residential and other shore structures, dnd in sea-gojng vessels, certain architectural changes and modifications are necessary to effectually prevent the rat from finding the quiet harbouring places essential for its welfare. The elimination of such harbourages, together with the permanent blocking or protecting of enclosed wall or ceiling places, which may not be removed, are measures collectively designated as rat-proof-ing. A general determination to. rout the rat may be strengthened by the thought that the beast has nothing to recommend it. Modern sanitation has removed its only legendjaiy claim to virtue, the questionable distinction of being a scavenger. Rats not only cause great economic loss, but spread disease such as plague. Th'e prevention and suppression of plague and dither rat-borne diseases resojlve themselves into a war upon these rodents. The appointment of official ratcatchers is an important step in this direction, as the introduction of plague into a country may lead not only to loss of human life but tq a state of grave economic importance, owing to, strict quarantine restrictions being enforced. A scarcity of food helps all other suppressive methods. Care, therefore, should be taken as tb the disposal of remnants of lunches in office buildings and of organic waste generally. A great deal can be done to keep rats in check by making buildings rat-proof.