Numerous devices are used to destroy them, and it is a common thing to
see a soldier sitting patiently in the trenches with his rifle between
his knees and a piece of toasted cheese on the end of his bayonet. As
Mr. Rat, attracted by the savoury odour, approaches and takes the
first sniff, the trigger is pulled and there is one living rat less.
Prizes are sometimes given to the man who can kill the largest number
in a week, and bags of 25 and 30 are not uncommon. Sometimes poison is
used, and even ferrets have been employed with, however, little
success.
In connection with the rat problem, we had an illustration of how
impossible it is even for a rat to escape the British army system.
Army routine, the result of many years of experience, once put into
operation is as sure and certain as death and taxation.
The regulations are that if any considerable number of rats have been
noticed around the trenches sick or dying, some of them shall be sent
to the field laboratories for examination. Bubonic plague is a rat
disease; consequently if rats are dying in any great numbers, we would
conclude that some disease, possibly plague, must be the cause.
In this case the Director of Medical Services of the army had been
notified that a rat had been despatched to a laboratory for
examination. Consequently he was anxious to know the result of the
examination, and when a report was not forthcoming he sent a telegram
to the officer commanding the Canadian laboratory asking that a report
on the rat be forwarded at once.
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