The Health bulletin [serial] - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

May, 1951The Health Bulletinsensative than man's. Many authoritiessay rats are color blind. The sensesof hearing and touch are both veryacute. Its agility and excellent senseof balance makes control operationstedious and difficult. A rat can jumpnearly two feet high from a standingposition and slightly over three feetwith a running start. In jumping downward,a rat can cover a horizontal distanceof 8 feet while dropping 15 feetby jumping outward from a standstill.By being able to reach 18 inches, theycan scale a vertical wall if toe holdsare available at that spacing or closer.They can cross the street on a telephonewire or climb a vertical 3-inch pipe ifit is rusty. Palls seldom prove injuriousto them. Norway rats will burrow intothe ground as much as 5 to 6 feet toget under the foimdation of buildingswhere food is available but they seldomgo down over 18 inches for shelter ornesting. Sometimes their undergroundtunnels are several himdred feet long.Bodies of water are no barriers as ratshave been known to swim a half mUeIn open water. They dive and swimunder water without hesitation. Theywill gnaw through almost any materialthat is not as hard as their teeth.While rats tend to remain close totheir harborage as long as the foodsupply and living conditions are adequate,they will travel long distanceswhen necessary. In rural commimitiesthey frequently leave buildings in thespring and live in the fields imtil thescarcity of food or search for warmthdrives them back Indoors. Mass migrationshave been reported to occur whencrops failed or other disasters tookplace.The existence of rats in any area isdependent on food, water and harborage,and their density is usually Inproportion to the availability of thesenecessities. These items must be maintainedin any community for the benefitof mankind. If this could be doneand at the same time make them inaccessibleto rats, their control wouldnot present a very difficult problem.The habits of both rats and humansprevent such an ideal solution. Theperserverence of the rat combined withits resourcefulness and physical characteristicsmakes it hard to erect andmaintain barriers between it and food.Our careless habits and innate indifferencetoo frequently result in abountiful supply of everything the ratneeds being readily available.Ratproofing BuildingsRatprooftng of buildings in whichfoodstuffs are stored has been provedto be both effective and practical. Muchof this work has been and is still beingdone in North Carolina on a community-widebasis vmder the supervisionof local health departments incooperation with the N. C. State Boardof Health. Unfortimately, this activityis slow in achieving its goal due to thecost, lack of community organization,public indifference and individual opposition,as well as the need for continuedInspection and maintenance.While rat-proofing is strongly recommendedby us as one of the effectiveweapons against rats, cognizance mustbe taken of its limitations.Don't Feed the Enemy orProvide Him ShelterEven if all buildings in which foodstuffsare stored were to be completelyratproofed, our careless habits wouldstill furnish room and board for them.When garbage Is thrown out on theground or left in open containers, weare giving succor to the enemy. As mostdwellings can be entered by rats, thehousewife Is encouraging their residencyby providing a happy home in whichthey can hve and raise large familieswhen she leaves scraps or other foodat any place they can get to or allowsaccumulations of trash to form in whichthey can build nests.Foods should be treated as potentialsustenance for rats from the momentthey are brought into town tmtil finaldisposal of the garbage by adhering tothe following practices:1. Prior to preparation or serving, allfoods should be stored in ratproofcontainers.2. Foods for chickens, hogs or other