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75
Live rat catching by skilled workers is still considered to be the most suitable and
hygienic method of extermination for use in the City area, and for this reason is recommended
in the majority of instances.
Rat-proofing is suggested in every case of rat infestation. The value of this method
of repression cannot be over-emphasized, particularly where, as in an area like the City,
the chief problem is provided by the Black Rat.
The guarding and removal of waste food, water, and nesting facilities, which must
form part of any rat-proofing campaign, is obviously the duty of occupiers of property,
and its introduction is continually recommended and demanded by the Officers of this
Department. Structural rat-proofing, which mainly entails the blocking of internal pipe
runs, and the repair of defective doors, windows, and roofs, cannot reasonably be asked of
occupiers or legally demanded of owners. For this reason this particular aspect of repression
is not receiving the attention it should.
In previous reports emphasis has been laid on the need for the closing of windows and
doors in properties. The rat is quick to take advantage of every human failing in this way.
This is amply illustrated in the accompanying photograph. This shows a fanlight over
a door leading from a landing. This fanlight had never been closed. Rats nested in the
ceiling over the landing, made their exit through a hole made for a pipe, ran down the framework
of the window (shown by the black marking on the wood), across the bottom of the
window, and through the open frame on to the top of a cupboard which stands behind the
door. The frequency with which the rats used this run is illustrated by the accentuated
black marking on the window framework. Incidentally, the occupiers had no idea of this
happening, and though aware of the presence of this black marking, never associated it
with the rat.
It is not possible to give the number of rats destroyed in the City during the year 1937.
Messrs. William Dalton & Sons inform me that they caught 19,561 in the area during that
period, whilst one of the big catering firms state that nearly 5,000 were caught in their
City shops.