Front matter
Reading edition
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FARMERS' BULLETIN No. 1638
RAT PROOFING BUILDINGS and PREMISES
F
FOOD AND SHELTER are as essential to rats as to other animals, and the removal of these offers a practical means of permanent rat control. The number of rats on premises and the extent of their destructiveness are usually in direct proportion to the available food supply and to the shelter afforded. Rat proofing in the broadest sense embraces not only the exclusion of rats from buildings of all types but also the elimination of their hiding and nesting places and cutting off their food supply. Through open doors and in other ways, rats may frequently gain access to structures that are otherwise rat proof, but they can not persist there unless they find safe retreats and food. When rat proofing becomes the regular practice the rat problem will have been largely solved.
Washington, D. C. Issued December, 1930
RAT PROOFING BUILDINGS AND PREMISES
By James Silver, Associate Biologist, and W. E. Crouch, Senior Biologist, Division of Predatory-Animal and Rodent Control, Bureau of Biological Survey, and M. C. Betts, Senior Architect, Division of Agricultural Engineering, Bureau of Public Roads.
CONTENTS
Page
Introduction 1
General principles of rat proofing 2
Rat-proofing farm buildings 2
Barns 5
Corncribs 7
Granaries 9
Poultry houses 9
Other farm structures 11
Rat proofing city buildings 13
Markets 18
Warehouses 19
Rat proofing the city 20
Model rat-proofing ordinances 21