there is one thing we feel solid about--when he knows you really want to
trap him he'll do his level best to avoid your kind intentions. There
are shoals of ingenious rat-traps with plenty of mechanism in them which
are certainly good as long as you don't plainly advertise them to the
rats, which is about equal to saying "Look out, rats, this is a trap for
you, with a bait!" After you have put out this charitable notice nary a
rodent will you catch. We will now show how most simple people, after
catching a lone specimen, give themselves "dead away," to speak
classically, to all the rats there are in the neighborhood. Get a trap,
no matter of what shape, material or brand--but by all means get one
that doesn't let the rat out again after he has been once caught. Bait
it with anything nice and tempting, and put it near the rat-hole, just
where they come out, any time before you go to bed. In the morning you
probably find you have caught a rat--maybe a big, grizzled old
fellow with a scabby tail, or else a young one, half frightened to
death--anyway it _is_ a rat, and a real live one at that, and you can
forthwith proceed to kill him. Now clean your trap and smoke it out.
Bait it again with the same care and, hundred to one, you find--_no
rat_. The mystery of it is this: The first rat that came out of the hole
on the first night saw you had put down something for him, so he sniffed
the dainty bait and remarked under his breath that he was a devilish
lucky dog and that he had struck a superior sort of a free lunch all to
himself. With that he entered--the trap snapped harshly and cruelly, and
the nervous little animal became frightened and sought to escape from
his seeming abode of luxury. He couldn't get out, squealed long and
plaintively, and worked hard against the sides of his prison. Bye and
bye all the other rats came out to see the cause of all the racket.
After investigating they find their young friend has been dolefully
sold, and together make and keep a vow to steer clear of your traps ever
afterwards. This is why you catch but one rat and no more; for a much
more stupid and less nervous animal than a rat is would keep away from a
similar arrangement in the future. We shall now try the experiment over
again, but in a different fashion. Suppose we select a big round trap
with falling doors at the sides and a hole on top. First be sure that
the doors lift up and fall down very easily. If the bottom of the trap
is of wire place it on sawdust, so that the rats are comfortable in it.
Put the trap _away_ from the hole, near the wall of the cellar, if in
winter near the warmest place, always in a dark spot. As our friend
likes comfort so much, put a bag over the trap, so that he can find the
falling doors easily. Get some rags scented with about fifteen drops of
either oil of rhodium, oil of carraway, oil of aniseed, or a mixture of
these oils. First tie a string around them and swab them around the
rat-holes, then drag them on the ground near the wall, to the place
where the rat-trap is and rub the rags well over it, then put them in.
Have some nice tempting bait in the trap, either carrots, meat, broiled
bacon, or cheese--anything fresh will do--but be careful to put in
enough of it. If the trap is placed as we have above directed the rat
will get in and not try to escape. _Make the trap as much unlike a trap
and as much like a natural hiding-place as possible._ If this is done,
it is highly probable you will have your cage chock-full of rats the
next morning. It is very seldom this fails, but if it should not succeed
the first night proceed as follows: Put the trap exactly as I have told
you, with the exception to tie up the sliding doors. Let it stand there
until the rats have eaten it out several times, replacing the bait.
After the rats get used to frequent the place and think they have a
"soft snap" on you, let down your falling doors again and you have them
all!
After all is said and done, the most practical of all rat-traps is my
little "Special Steel Trap," which catches one rat at a time, but its
cost is so reasonable that you can have a dozen of them for the price of
one of the big wire ones. It is an utter impossibility for the rats to
avoid being caught if the traps are properly placed, and it can, with
ease, be so nicely adjusted that the gentlest touch of a rat's paw will
insure his immediate capture. And when Mister Rat has put down that
little paw of his he is as securely held as if he were nailed to
the floor. I have over ten thousand of these traps in use in my
professional rat-exterminating operations and sell barrels of them. The
larger the space to be covered the more traps are required, and, where
it is possible, remove your rat as soon as caught. Place the traps in
the natural run of the rats; around swill-barrels, along the walls, etc.
Its chief practical beauty is its innocent appearance, as there is
nothing about its placid surface which tells the rats of its unerring
aim. With every trap we furnish a chain-attachment and fastener; the
latter is for the purpose of securing it to the flooring and prevents
the rats from dragging the trap. As this Special Steel Trap is a boon to
large institutions, ships, shops, factories, stores, hotels,
office-buildings, flat-houses, warehouses, private dwellings,
slaughter-houses, etc., etc., I quote the following prices on it, which
are net:
Per dozen $3.00
Per hundred 20.00
II.--POISONS.
The common rat poisons are Arsenic, Strychnine and Paris-green. These
are put up by enterprising people under a multitude of suggestive names,
without specifying the kind of poisons used, however, or even a warning
of their being poisonous, as the law implicitly directs. There is,
indeed, a great deal of criminal negligence in the way these poisons are
put upon the market, as in some the proportion of poison is so great
that it would kill an elephant--whereas it should be exactly
graded to the rat's capacity. The proportion of arsenic in one
very-much-advertised rat-poison now in use, as analyzed by Dr. Otto
Grothe, a Brooklyn chemist, consists of 98.19 per cent. pure arsenic
and 1.81 per cent. admixtures (coal, etc.). Would-be suicides and
murderers have made use of these poisons extensively. Poisons in powdery
form--such as arsenic and strychnine--are liable, very easily, indeed,
to get mixed up with food, and have in that way been a powerful
death-dealing agency. Their peculiar effect on the rats is to allow them
to get over-doses, causing violent vomiting, followed by complete
failure to kill or drive out. The Phosphoric Paste, the "Sure Pop" brand
of which is very carefully manufactured by the present writer, is free
from all of these objections, as it is in salve form and very hard to be
accidentally mixed up with edibles of any kind. It is impossible for the
rats to receive overdoses of it; and the phosphorus has the effect of
burning and irritating them internally and forcing them to run for fresh
air. Arsenic and strychnine rat-poisons are usually prepared in such
heavy quantities that the rats prematurely die in the holes. On the
other hand, the amount of actual poisonous matter in this "Sure Pop"
Phosphoric Paste has been exactly proportioned to the rat's system,
making the amount of poison very slight. There is no secret at all in
the compounding of this preparation, but it requires much experience and
study of the rat's nature, preferences and habits to make it so that it
will work with proper effect. The utmost daintiness is also required in
the handling of all its ingredients. We have practically shown on page
40 how the smell of phosphorus is the most powerful of attractions known
to the rat, and how it will operate when everything else fails.
III.--DOGS, CATS AND FERRETS.
The claims of cats as one of the rat remedies we shall have to dismiss
in very short order, as the exceptional cases in which they do good work
are altogether too few and far between. The only domestic animal which
really possesses value in _hunting_ rats is the ferret, as, by reason of
its india-rubber joints, it can pursue its prey home. Any terrier--no
matter what variety--having a fair amount of intelligence can be broken
in with ferrets, so that your ferret can do the hunting out and the
dog--at the proper moment--can do the killing. The fox-terrier is by far
the best ratting-terrier. He is quick, understands and remembers what is
taught him, is full of ambition, and readily learns to regard the
ferrets as his partners in the rat-hunt.
IV.--HUMAN RAT-CATCHERS.
The directions given with each of the remedies advocated by me are so
plain that anyone can successfully put them into use. Where the rats
have got altogether too thick, or where they hold possession of a place
in such a way that there appears no clue to dislodging them, it is quite
advisable to call in an expert. To this effect I have perfected a
regular system of rat-exterminating in which the remedies I mention in
this book are systematically applied--under my own superintendence--by a
corps of experts. Through this improved system I am enabled to take
contracts to exterminate rats (and also other vermin) from any kind of
building in any city or town in the United States, providing the job is
large enough. Correspondence on the subject given prompt attention.
THE ORIGIN OF THE FERRET.
WITH HINTS TO DARWIN.
We have stated, in the first chapter of this book, that the verb
"ferret" is derived from the animal of the same name, but many
_savants_, and even "plain people," as Lincoln said, have cudgeled their
brains trying to trace from whence the _animal_ has derived its name.
After long and tedious delving into histories and musty tomes having
even the slightest bearing on the subject, we are able herewith to
enlighten these gentlemen. For this illumination they have long been
waiting, we have no doubt, with the utmost anxiety and impatience. This
requires us to go at length into the matter, and entails upon us the
writing of the ferret's development from prehistoric times until merged
into the animal of to-day, with its present shape, instincts, and
habits. In the course of the essay we also prove conclusively that the
animal originally comes from America. Many scientists will no doubt deem
it peculiar to find us using many modern and untechnical terms in the
following history, but let them rest assured that if we were to make use
of our extensive scientific knowledge of the subject it would compel
them to hunt up all the lexicons that had ever been compiled!
In the very good and very old days before our present reckoning, when
mankind sported tails and was protected against the wind and weather by
a long, hairy covering, and when both animals and man had a language of
their own--in those times it was that two fair-sized buck Martens, one
of the Beech and the other of the Stone species, stood on the southern
point of what is now called Cape Farewell, in Greenland, longitude 30°
30´ east, latitude 60° 2´ north. They trembled violently from
excitement, because they had just finished a friendly set-to of 64
rounds, lasting 3 hours 10 minutes, New York time, and which both had so
far survived. The referee, an old good-natured fox, saw with his keen
off-eye that there was no more fight in either of them, and pronounced
the battle a _draw_, telling them to try it again on some future day,
whereupon he speedily took his departure, as he was very busy just at
that time umpiring base-ball games. The contestants then shook forepaws,
a custom which has survived the centuries, and after a little cold water
and rest had restored them they mended their broken friendship and made
solemn pledges not to try harming each other any more. They further made
a bargain to set up a business firm, which meant in those days, as it
does now, division of spoils. In the language of that time the Beech
Marten was called _Ver_, and his partner, the Stone Marten, _Rect_,
therefore the firm was called "The Ver and Rect Bill-of-Fare Improving
Co." This title explains part of their object in making the trip
described in the following pages. The other agreements were to do it in
perfect harmony, and at the end of their pilgrimage to stick forever by
that particular diet that had suited them best. They were both very
glad of their compact, because each one had formed a high opinion of
the other's powers evidenced in the pummeling of one another's ribs.
Talking things over leisurely, they found themselves getting hungry, and
as their stomach was and is yet the Mainspring of their actions, they
resolved to start immediately on the expedition. After they had traveled
48 hours due south-east (a direction which they instinctively followed
all through their wanderings) they had the good luck to stumble upon a
small but very fat pig, snoring comfortably on the banks of a river,
known then as the Atlantic river, but since developed into the ocean of
the same name, a further account of which is given further on. Ver and
Rect found the stream about the size of our present Hudson as it flows
by Weehawken. The partners accordingly killed the pig without much
bother, ate it, and took a short nap (for those times) of three days,
and after waking they stretched themselves, hopped around, and took a
drink from the river, but no sooner had they swallowed a little of the
water than they commenced spitting, spluttering, and twisting their
faces into all shapes, as the water was very salt and brackish. Eating
the very fat pig and drinking the salt water had not agreed with Ver and
Rect, and they put down the following on the tablets of their minds for
future reference: "Fat pig bad feed--salt water ditto." Hence all their
descendants, right up to this day, never indulge in pork or use salt at
all.
[Illustration]
Ver, who wore spectacles, then took the reckoning, and found they had
just traveled 1910 prehistoric miles, quite a distance for those days.
The firm resolved lazily to start again, and after yawning a good deal,
and lying in the sun a little while longer, they still felt unpleasant
fat-pig and salt-water sensations. They paddled across the Atlantic
river, and by the time they had arrived on _the other side_ they had no
objection to lunching again, and as fortune seemed to favor them, they
spied in the distance a very big woodchuck. After an exciting chase, Ver
and Rect captured him, and at first devoured him with vim. The poor
Martens, however, were doomed to disappointment, for when they had
bolted their prize and had taken their usual nap of three days, they
woke up with great pains in their much-abused interior departments. They
thought the woodchuck business over carefully and made this inward
memorandum: "Woodchuck may be very good, but we prefer lead-pipe."
Four days after the feast of the woodchuck, wandering on rather
discontentedly, they were suddenly delighted by a wonderful change in
the climate, that had previously been harsh and cold, but was now mild
and radiant. Birds were singing from beautiful trees, Nanny and Billy
goats, and sheep were gamboling about cheerfully. Lions and wolves were
doing a thriving business, and, just like the bulls and bears of to-day,
were all living on the poor lambs. The Martens wandered about a mile
through this happy land, and in course of time, bethinking themselves of
their sacred mission, they fell to work on a Billy goat, who was slain,
after a hard fight, as an offering to their great god, The Stomach. It
is evidenced by our records that this goat must have been a huge animal,
for Ver and Rect lived three days on his carcass, although at the end of
this time they felt rather sick. The entry in their inward journal was
as follows: "Disgusted with Billy goat; hopes of finding our steady
feed very gloomy." Rect began to feel discouraged, but Ver cheered him
up, saying unto him: "Rec', I have a feeling within my bones which tells
me our promised land of Good Feed draws near. Brace up thy suspenders,
and let us be of good mien and travail onward, for there is no
philosopher on earth of a cheerful temper with his belly unhinged."
Verily, after a two days' journey, they observed, to their joy, right on
their road, a great mountain overgrown with timber and underbrush. Upon
reaching it, they found it full of game of all kinds, some of which they
began to attack immediately. Among others they caught a little, delicate
gray rabbit, and after critically tasting its flesh, were delighted with
its flavor. They thought now they had found a solid bill-of-fare
material, and made arrangements for staying in the place by digging
themselves comfortable beds under the roots of a big tree. There was
such an abundance of these delicious rabbits that Ver and Rect concluded
they had enough of a wandering life, and that the mission of the
"Bill-of-Fare Improving Co." was fulfilled. They called the land, on
account of the great number of these little animals, _Engelland_,
meaning the land of the Engels, or angels, at present England. Having
kept bachelor's hall for awhile under the big tree, they formed the
acquaintance of some of their rich neighbors, who were very kind to
them, and whom the Martens found to be relatives of theirs. To Ver and
Rect's former pastimes of hunting, eating, drinking (cold water), and
sleeping, they now added courting. Ver acquainted himself with a pretty
young Miss Weasel, a blonde, and paid her attention, and Rect took
fancy to a handsome and stately Miss Mink, a brunette. In two hours
after their first courtship--the thing was done quicker in those
days--Ver and Rect were married men. They begot children, grandchildren,
and great-grandchildren, who in their turn intermarried into the
families of the Sables, the Fitches, and the Ermines, but all the
descendants of Ver and Rect went under the name of Ver-Rects, afterwards
verrects, until it has been gradually mellowed into our present
_ferrets_. The ferrets now lived in the woods of old Engelland, hunting
and eating rabbits and enjoying themselves with all their families on
this only ingredient of their bill-of-fare, which Ver and Rect thought
of making the permanent ferret food by law. Of course the ferrets grew
into the most expert of rabbit-hunters, and they have retained this
ability to the present day. Never after they had been in Engelland did
Ver or Rect or their descendants subsist on pigs, woodchucks, or
billy-goats. One morning a great accident happened, which brought them a
different kind of food, consisting of a large army of black rats. The
way it happened was this: The earth on which we now live, and which
swings around at a pretty good gait on its own axle, broke it right near
the north pole and all the waters spilled out there. They overflowed the
Atlantic river 1500 miles on each side, and thus formed our present
Atlantic Ocean. The high mountain of England was just saved from the
water, making it an island, and just then 750,000 live rats swam on
shore to save themselves from drowning.
The ferrets killed a few of these rats to experiment upon, and were more
than delighted with the tender meat, Ver and Rect making the ferret's
bill-of-fare for all ages chiefly consist of rabbits and rats. Sometimes
the ferrets went rabbit and sometimes rat-hunting, and were as expert in
the one as in the other, and so it is that the ferret of to-day occupies
itself, by the mandates of its forefathers, Ver and Rect, in the
vigorous hunting throughout all lands of the rat and the rabbit. From
whence the rats came before they arrived in England will be found in the
next chapter.
THE CONTINUATION OF THE FORMER CHAPTER.
Our rats are from China. The proof of this will be found in more
particularly observing the rat's looks, vices and nature, the manner in
which he carries his (pig)tail, and further, the great love of the
Chinaman for him. We contend also that the Chinaman and the rat are
relatives, for it can be said of both, as it has been said of one,
"That for ways that are dark,
And for tricks that are vain,
The heathen Chinee is peculiar."
So we say positively that the rat is Chinese, and there is no record
that can prove the contrary. The rats were kept locked up in that great
empire of solid fences before they showed themselves to the other
countries of the earth. Forty years before the great Ver and Rect
battle, 750,000 big rats, with their tails out straight, like real
Chinese pig-tails, concluded to make an exodus out of the heavenly
territory, under the leadership of 75 big chiefs. They didn't want to
leave particularly, but they were afraid of being starved out
altogether, or else murdered for food by the Chinese army. After the
rats had put themselves in battle array, and were duly formed in
procession, the 75 big chiefs, who were distinguished from the others by
their big red noses and muscular forms, held a council. At the end of a
three days' session, during which a great many speeches had been made
and a good deal of fighting had been going on, a very old political
rat-boss arose and made a proposition. His speech was about as follows:
"Honored Rats, and fellow-citizens: I have been a rat for a good many
years, and don't want to change my business. I must say I like being a
rat. But if we are hacked up in soup, or starved out completely, I have
my doubts of our staying powers. Countrymen and lovers, this is what we
are threatened with, and we must move. Where to? is the question that
arises, and I have thought it over. The climate is hot to suffocation
and very unhealthy here; let us trust to luck and go west, as a friend
of mine said on a similar occasion. 'Go West, young man, go West,' I say
unto you now, and I advise you to do so as speedily as possible." This
speech was received with "tremendous applause" for the old rat waxed
very eloquent, and the "go west" resolution was passed unanimously. An
amendment was put in, changing the course to north-west, for the meeting
was held during such hot weather, that some of the radicals wanted to
start out immediately and settle on the North Pole. They were promptly
overruled, of course, and the 750,000 rats, including males and females,
wandered on slowly in their chosen direction, increasing on the road to
a wonderful extent. The council concluded to hold a thorough count or
census of rats, and each male rat, it was provided, should not be
bashful about coming forward and giving the true number of his whole
family--no doctoring of the returns allowed. After the count was
completed, all the rats over and above the original amount, 750,000,
agreed to stay in the country they had arrived at. The originals kept on
moving towards the north-west, but the others filled up every section of
the earth they passed through. The rats made friends with neither man
nor animal on their journey. First they made a stop in a state where all
the owls--although they were countrymen of the rats, having emigrated
from China--fell upon them, and there was a pitched battle, the rats
afterwards hiding themselves in their holes under ground after losing a
great many in dead and wounded. One day they agreed to make an excursion
out of the line of their route and so take in Egypt. In a few weeks they
here ate up all the corn from the fields, stealing and hiding away
anything edible, and quite creating a panic, but always fighting shy of
the daylight. We read in the histories of a great locust plague in
Egypt, about this time, but on this point we have a revelation to make.
The locust was just as innocent of this crime as it is of building the
Brooklyn Bridge--_it was the rats that did it_. When the rats arrived in
Greece they scored a signal victory, because it was there that they
extirminated a whole nation--the mice--and the former have strongly held
this country ever since. We are authentically informed, by reference to
our own private rat historian's notes of this trip, that the first place
the rats met their great enemy, the Dog, was in Ancient Rome, where the
dogs were put on them by man with much success, and here the rats could
get no firm foothold. This caused them a roundabout journey north, and
when they thought they had pretty well established themselves in ancient
Gaul, now France, they were raided by a strange tigerish kind of animal
which proved afterwards a lasting antagonist of theirs--the Cat. The
poor rodents found here the other enemies they had encountered on the
road, the owl and the dog, who were always urged on fiercely by man.
While the rats were struggling along in France, the land was convulsed
by an earthquake, causing the Atlantic river's banks to be overflowed.
This submerged the land on which the rats were, and as they all could
swim they headed their course for England, the nearest dry land. It was
here the ferrets joined man, dogs, cats and owls, but the more the rats
were hunted, the more acute and crafty they got to be, until they found
out innumerable hiding-places and ways of preservation, so we have them
still with us to-day. We thus close our story of research, through which
we have shown America as the birthplace of the ferret, China of the rat,
and England as the first country employing ferrets for rat-hunting.
FERRETS:
SURE POP BREED.
RAISED AND TRAINED
BY THE
AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK.
EVERY FERRET SOLD IS WARRANTED AS
REPRESENTED.
DEPOT--92 FULTON STREET,
NEW YORK CITY.
HOUSES CLEARED
--OF--
RATS
WITH FERRETS,
--BY--
CONTRACT.
DEPOT--92 FULTON STREET,
NEW YORK CITY.
SURE POP
PHOSPHORIC PASTE,
FOR THE
DESTRUCTION OF
Rats, Mice, and Roaches,
MANUFACTURED BY
"SURE POP" ISAACSEN.
=PRINCIPAL DEPOT:=
92 FULTON STREET,
NEW YORK CITY.
SURE POP
INSECT POWDER
FOR THE
DESTRUCTION OF
Roaches, Bed Bugs, Ants, Fleas, Flies, Mosquitoes
Moths, Spiders, Scorpions, Centipedes, Plant
and Animal Lice, Croton Bugs, etc., etc., etc.
_OWN IMPORTATION AND WARRANTED THE
BEST IN THE WORLD._
=PRINCIPAL DEPOT:=
92 FULTON STREET,
NEW YORK CITY.
SURE POP
INSECT POWDER KILLERS.
This valuable little instrument was patented by me years ago.
It is a handly little machine for dusting the Insect Powder
around. It is made of vulcanized rubber, having a metallic top.
=PRINCIPAL DEPOT:=
92 FULTON STREET,
NEW YORK CITY.
SURE POP
Patent Insect Powder Bellows.
PATENTED APRIL 29, 1884.
NUMBER OF PATENT, 297,693.
THE ADVANTAGES OF THIS MACHINE OVER ALL OTHERS ARE:
1. It is easily loaded.
2. There is no waste of powder.
3. The Powder can not get back into the Bellows.
4. The top can not get worked off.
5. The Bellows are made under my own supervision, and every one is
guaranteed.
* * * * *
Transcriber's note:
Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as
possible, including unusual spelling and inconsistent hyphenation.
"skarks' fins" has been changed to "sharks' fins".