This eBook was prepared by Les Bowler.
p. 1Full Revelationsof a Professional Rat-Catcher,
after 25 Years’ Experience
by Ike Matthews.
p. 2Introduction.
In placing before my readers in the following pages the results ofmy twenty-five years’ experience of Rat-catching, Ferreting, etc.,I may say that I have always done my best to accomplish every task thatI have undertaken, and I have in consequence received excellent testimonialsfrom many corporations, railway companies, and merchants. I havenot only made it my study to discover the different and the best methodsof catching Rats, but I have also taken great interest in watching theirways and habits, and I come to the conclusion that there is no sureway of completely exterminating the Rodents, especially in large towns. If I have in this work referred more particularly to Rat-catching inManchester that is only because my experience, although extending overa much wider area, has been chiefly in that city, but the methods Idescribe are equally applicable to all large towns.
Yours truly,
IKE MATTHEWS.
PROFESSIONAL RAT-CATCHER,
PENDLETON,
MANCHESTER.
p. 3PART I. HOWTO CLEAR RATS FROM WAREHOUSES, OFFICES, STOREROOMS, ETC.
In the first place my advice is—never poison Rats in any enclosedbuildings whatever. Why? Simply because the Rats that youpoison are Drain Rats, or what you call Black Rats, and you can dependupon it that the Rats that you poison will not get back into the drains,but die under the floor between the laths and plaster, and the consequenceis that in a few days the stench that will arise will be most obnoxious. And there is nothing more injurious than the smell of a decomposed Rat.
Having had a long experience in Manchester I am quite sure of this. As an instance, I remember a private house where I was engaged catchingRats under a floor with ferrets. I went as far as possible onmy belly under the floor with two candles in my hands, and I saw p. 4theferret kill a large bitch Rat, about six yards from me against a wall,where neither the dog nor myself could get at it. I finished thejob and made out my bill for my services, but in about two or threeweeks after they again sent for me, declaring they could not stay inthe sitting-room on account of the smell that arose from beneath theflooring boards. They had in consequence to send for a joiner;and as I knew the exact spot where the Rat was killed I ordered himto take up the floor boards just where the dead Rat lay, and the stenchthat arose from the decomposed Rodent was bad in the extreme. I disinfected the place, and I was never sent for again. Thiswas under a cold floor, and it is much worse where there is any heat.
Now to deal with the different methods of catching Rats. Thebest way, in my opinion, is,
TRAPPING THEM WITH STEEL SPRING TRAPS.
Whenever you are trapping, never on any consideration put bait onthe traps; always put traps in their runs, but you will find Rats areso cunning that in time, after a few have been caught, they will jumpover the traps, and then you must try another way. A good oneis the following, viz.:—Get a bag of fine, clean sawdust, andmix with it about one-sixth its weight of oatmeal. Obtain thesawdust p. 5fresh from underth