Issued May 31, 1907.

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

FARMERS' BULLETIN 297.

METHODS OF DESTROYING RATS.

BY

DAVID E. LANTZ,

Assistant, Bureau of Biological Survey.

WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
1907.

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

U. S. Department of Agriculture,
Bureau of Biological Survey,
Washington, D. C., May 15, 1901.

Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith for publication Farmers' Bulletin No. 297, containing concise directions for the destruction of rats, prepared by David E. Lantz, an assistant in this Bureau. The damage done by these rodents, both in cities and in the country, is enormous, and the calls for practical methods of destroying them are correspondingly numerous and urgent. It is believed that by following the directions here given the numbers of this pest can be greatly reduced and the losses from them proportionally diminished.

Respectfully,

C. Hart Merriam,
Chief, Biological Survey.

Hon. James Wilson,
Secretary of Agriculture.

CONTENTS.

Page.

Introduction 3

Methods of destroying rats 4

Poisoning 4
Trapping 5
Use of ferrets and dogs 6
Fumigation 7

Rat-proof construction 7

Natural enemies of rats 8

Conclusions 8

ILLUSTRATION.

Page.

Fig. 1.—Method of baiting guillotine trap public@vhost@g@gutenberg@html@files@34437@[email protected]#Page_6" class="pginternal"