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The Council have delegated their powers under the Act to the Public Health Committee, and
each Sanitary Inspector has been directed to make inspections in his district for the purpose of
detecting rat-infested premises and also to report to the Medical Officer of Health cases in which
the occupiers are not taking all practical steps to destroy the rats and to prevent their premises
becoming infested.
In the earlier months of the year the Council employed a part-time Rat Officer, who was paid
at the rate of 5/- for each complaint dealt with. This arrangement, which proved to be unsatisfactory,
was terminated on May 5th, 1920, and a man was employed as a Rat Officer at a wage of
£4 per week to assist in the work of rat destruction under the supervision of the Sanitary
Inspectors.
Inspections made by the Sanitary Inspectors in connection with rat destruction are included
in the record of houses inspected in Table VI. of the Appendix, and notices for repair of drains,
floors, etc., to prevent ingress of rats are issued under the Public Health Act and are included in
the record of "Notices Issued" also in Table VI.
On receiving a complaint of trouble from rats, or on discovery of rat-infested premises, the
Inspector usually offers the occupier the assistance of the Rat Officer, and this offer is so willingly
accepted and the advice given is so readily followed, that the Public Health Committee have on
only one occasion found it necessary to issue a notice as prescribed by the Act.
The Rat Officer prepares poison baits which he lays in suitable places, and the following,
table shows the number of visits paid, baits laid, etc., from July to the end of the year.
No. of premises visited by the Rat Officer for the first time 132
No. of premises where evidence of rats was found 119
Total number of visits to rat-infested premises 1,034
No. of poison baits laid 18,275
No. of poison baits found by Rat Officer to have disappeared within 2 or
3 days 14,220
No. of poison baits not having disappeared in 2 or 3 days, and therefore
removed by Rat Officer 2,018
No. of poison baits laid in sewers (where no re-inspection was made) 2,037
(The records of work done by the part-time Rat Expert in the earlier months of the year are too unreliable to be
worth summarising).
Barium Carbonate has been the poison in general use, but in a few cases Extract of Squills has
been tried. Each bait contains sufficient poison to kill one rat, and is made up to about the size
of a lump of sugar by adding meal, flour, fat and other ingredients known to be attractive to
rodent vermin. Rats which have consumed Barium Carbonate suffer from intense thirst before
death and generally leave the premises in search ot water, with the result that they die in drains
or sewers or out of doors. As it is very unusual to find a rat poisoned with Barium Carbonate
inside premises, Rat Officers commonly reckon the number of rats killed as being equal to the
number of poison baits found to have disappeared. This, however, is too liberal an estimate for,
doubtless, a hungry rat will eat several baits before feeling ill effects, especially as the poison itself
is tasteless. It is perhaps safe to state that the rats killed equal 25 per cent. in number of the
baits which have disappeared, and with this low estimate it can be assumed that the laying
of baits in Kensington from July to December has accounted for not less than 3,000 rats. The
expenditure by the Council on this work has, undoubtedly, been a sound investment for the ratepayers,
even if judged from the baiting work alone. A rat eats food to the value of about one
penny per day and, in estimating the value of the work to the ratepayers, it must be remembered
that not only have rats large appetites, but it is common for householders to throw away
remainders of quantities of food which may have been attacked but not entirely consumed by
rats. It must be borne in mind that rats do considerable damage to the structure ot
buildings and may also convey disease.
At each visit for the purpose of laying baits, the Rat Officer makes a careful record of the
numbers laid and the position of each. The premises are re-inspected in two or three days' time,
when all baits still in position are removed, counted and recorded in the office register. Rats do
not eat stale baits when they can obtain fresh food, but there is a more important reason for the
removal of baits. From time to time there occurs amongst man and animals illness for which no
cause can be ascribed, and there is no doubt that there are many people who would be prepared
to attribute the blame for such illness to rat poison in the event of there being any evidence that
baits had been left at the premises, even if they had been laid some years previously. The Rat
Officer's register will always be available to rebut such charges.
The Rat Officer does not lay baits in places to which young children or poultry have access,
but there have been several instances where cats have died as a result of eating the baits.
Occupiers are always impressed with the fact that the baits are poisonous and are warned against
laying any themselves in exposed places.
The laying and removing of baits and the giving of advice occupies a good deal of the Rat
Officer's time but the simple poisoning of Rats would be of little practical value unless the means
of ingress to premises were dealt with, therefore this Officer supplements the work of the Sanitary
Inspectors in searching for rat inlets and also helps them in inducing occupiers to concrete rat
holes, basement floors, etc. In addition to searching for holes in walls and floors in infested
premises, a careful examination is made for the discovery of defective drains and sewers, it being
a well established fact that these defects are the cause of most of the worst cases of rat infestation
in urban districts.