Knowing the mental capacity of your opponent is a big asset in any contest, and we can amply testify to its importance when your opponent happens to be a colony of rats!
Like others who store raw vegetables and other garden produce in cellars, we’ve had many knock-down, drag-out brawls with rats.
But thanks to our discovery of a “secret weapon,” which makes the highly overrated victim of his limited mentality, these drawn-out battles are now a tiling of the past.
Each time we’ve used our “secret weapon,” we’ve scored a quick, clean sweep—complete annihilation.
Our Secret Weapon – Powdered Red Squill
What’s our “secret weapon”? Merely the application of simple arithmetic to rat control. We learned many years ago that crows can count to two but can’t count to three.
They are confused by any number greater than two. If one man walks into the woods where crows are gathered, they will leave.
But they will return as soon as one man leaves the woods. If two men invade the crows’ gathering place, the crows will leave and remain away until two men have emerged singly or together.
If three or more men enter the woods, the crows will leave but return to supposed safety after only two men have emerged.
We decided to try the psychology of numbers on rats. We thought that perhaps by doing so, we could get around their natural suspicion of strange objects placed in their zone of operations, that perhaps numbers would confuse and disarm them.
So in 1937, with this thought in mind, we simultaneously placed three different poisoned baits in a cellar badly infested with rats.
The next morning, only one kind of bait remained. Not a trace could be found of the two other kinds.
The rats, too, were gone, although many of them had been a common sight in the vegetable storage section, and the cellar remained free of rats for more than a few years.
Using Red Squill Preparations Safely
In 1945, rats invaded the cellar of another house. We again decided to expose them to a confusing array of baits.
This time, however, we used powdered red squill as the sole rat-killing ingredient. We used 1 part powdered red squill in each preparation to 9 parts of bait.
The baits we made up and spread out for the rats to choose from were as follows:
(1) Squill mixed with ground meat
(2) Sandwiches made with bread and a mixture of squill and waist fat
(3) Squill and oatmeal mixed with a little milk
(4) Powdered squill merely wrapped in the waxed paper just as it- is furnished in ready-to-use commercial preparations
Walnut-size portions of each preparation were arranged in a regular pattern in the cellar to enable accurate observation of the results.
Three different portions disappeared without trace within two hours; one remained untouched.
The bait that was spurned in the 1937 trial was consumed in the 1945 test. We found evidence of our success the morning after the baits were exposed.
An enormous overstuffed rat revealed his presence and his helplessness by his labored breathing and was quickly disposed of.
His equally unfortunate companions had, no doubt, found their way deep into their runways before perishing. No rats have been seen since, and there were no objectionable odors.
The point made in the foregoing is that, from our experience, success in combating rats using poisons depends as much, if not more, upon inducing the rats to eat the poison as it does upon the toxicity of the poison itself. That our “psychological” method of inducing them to eat the poison works has, I think, been sufficiently demonstrated.
We used powdered red squill in our 1945 test on the authority of federal rat control specialists as outlined in “Bat Control” by Silver and Gailough, which is Conservation Bulletin No. 8 of the Fish and Wildlife Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
More recently, however, two new wartime-developed rodenticides, both reportedly far more effective than red squill, have been publicized in the press.
One of these is called “1080.” However, because of its high toxicity and its odorless and tastelessness, manufacturers of “1080” are not releasing it for public use but only to professional pest exterminators.
Effectiveness of New Rodenticides
The other new rat poison is ANTU (alpha-naphthyl thiourea), which was developed by Dr. Curt P. Kickter of Johns Hopkins, who reported on it last December in the Journal of the American Medical Association and which was the subject of an article in October Reader’s Digest.
ANTU is now being distributed in proprietary preparations, which are reportedly 20 to 40 times as effective as standard rat poisons.
Although these ANTU preparations are said to be harmless to humans and pets unless eaten in large quantities, it would be advisable to use them more carefully than red squill preparations.
Specifically, it may be suggested that the bait be exposed in the evening and removed the next morning and that when it is exposed, pets and children be prevented from entering the place where it is laid out.
Regarding sources of supply of red squill, this material is offered as rat poisons under various proprietary names. Still, products containing it may be identified by describing the contents.
It has an acrid taste, which is objectionable to most animals, and usually acts as an emetic when taken in dangerous quantities. It is taken fairly well by rats. However, since they cannot vomit, it is especially lethal to them.
Methods of Rat-Proofing Buildings and Premises
While rat control may well be said to begin at home with an understanding of rats’ habits, mental limitations, and food preferences, many rational procedures and precautions must be observed in obtaining widespread and permanent control.
Conservation Bulletin No. 19 of the Fish and Wildlife Service, U. S. Department of the Interior, describes practical methods of rat-proofing buildings and premises whereby rats may be barred from stored foods.
Accumulation of garbage accessible to rats should never be tolerated on private or public premises.
Also, rat control campaigns should be repeated often enough to take care of chance survivors and wandering invaders before they have time to multiply and again become a menace requiring violent measures.
Government Bulletins Available
Both of the government bulletins referred to above are obtainable from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C., for 10 cents—a small charge, indeed, for the invaluable information provided.
44659 by Gordon Morrison