RAT DEPREDATIONS

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 329, 9 January 1937, Page 4

RAT DEPREDATIONS

BUILDER’S EXPERIENCE Relatively Few In Business Area. Heart rimu is one of the hardest of timbers and a knot) defies a nail, but will not resist the gnawing of rats, as a local builder found recently, when engaged in repairing flooring in Broadway premises. “People won't believe what rats can go through unless they have seen it,” stated the builder to a "Central Press” reporter. He was amazed to find that in one instance they had gnawed clean through a kntß. in a piece of heart rimu. The teeth-marks resembled those made by a saw. Holes in the earth beneath the floor indicated that there was - a fair colony ot rodents in the vicinity. However, inquiries made revealed that there Is far from being a plague ot the pests. Not Many Rats Here.

"There are very few in the town.” said the Borough Health Inspector. Mr. A. E. Sayers, when the subjcA was referred to him. He added ttuG* with concrete buildings and concrete floors in butchers' shops and other premises, the sources ot their food supply was limited and the business area was relatively free ot them. ’ Loss Caused By Rata.

In the large cities the yearly loss caused by these dangerous and destructive vermin amounts to an enormous sum. The rat carries disease, eats anything from bone buttons to soap, and infects everything he touches. Many men are employed to exterminate them, and the profession of a rat-catcher is no longer a de-

spised one. Before the war the rat-catcher to the London County Council received the small sum of £4B per annum, but the “rat officer" is now worth from £250 to £3OO a year. A hundred years ago the rat-catcher was ot royal standing, and the “Rat-catcher to His Majesty"—in scarlet coat With yellow process of eating the regal wheatrats embroidered on the edges in the sheaves—received a salary of £lOO a year and whatever he could pick up without being found out.