RED SQUILL FOR RATS.

Forest and Bird, Issue 25, 1 October 1931, Page 16

RED SQUILL FOR RATS.

Red squill was brought into prominence during the war, when it was desired to produce a poison for rats which would prove harmless to everything else. The plant bearing this name grows in Sardinia and the islands and coast in the vicinity. In appearance it is a handsome plant terminating at the base in a large onion-like formation the size often of a coconut. The plants grow on rocky soil in small communities. Mr. B. C. Aston, our Government Chemist, to whom we are indebted for much information on this matter, brought out a number of plants and one or two survived. Recently, the United States Department of Agriculture instituted exhaustive experiments as to the effect of the poison on domestic animals. Dogs, cats, poultry, etc., generally refused the baits, and upon it being forcibly given, vomited it up. Doses were also taken by one gentleman without very evil effects. The Native Bird Protection Society will shortly be able to supply Red Squill, believing it may be of great value in lessening the rat plague so much in evidence as a menace to bird life and which takes such a heavy annual toll of our food supply, besides being a prolific agent in spreading disease.