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Infestations were eventually isolated and dealt with at
84 premises.
Destruction of Rats in Sewers, 1947
Operations were continued in 1947 in investigating and
treating all sewers for the destruction of rats. Baiting of
sewers for this purpose took place as follows:—
3.3.47 to 23.3.47
430 manholes throughout the whole area of the Borough
were prebaited with sausage rusk for two days and poison
bait consisting of Zinc phosphide mixed with sausage rusk
was applied on the 3rd day. Out of 430 manholes so treated
89 only gave a positive result.
15.12.47 to 22.12.47
166 manholes throughout the whole borough were treated
as in March, and of this number 79 manholes only gave a
positive result. The results obtained on both these poisoning
campaigns were considered to be very satisfactory- Treatment
is repeated at regular intervals otherwise the sewers
would soon be heavily infested.
Major Rat Infestation
One major rat infestation on private property was dealt
with in April, 1947. The infestation occurred in open land
and treatment consisted of prebaiting and poisoning on
similar lines to the system used in sewers.
The first treatment was the baiting of 400 rat holes and
at 350 points poison bait was taken. A second treatment of
the same number of points showed a reduction in takes to 10,
and final treatment and test baiting produced a clear result.
Smoke Abatement
Richmond being a residential district contains no very
large works or factories. The smaller factories give little
trouble by smoke nuisance.
Five complaints of a minor character were received
during the year and all were overcome by inspection of the
boiler plant, advice to stokers and interviews with managers.