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109
for failure to destroy rats and mice on premises were posted in the
borough and an agreement was entered into with a firm of rat catchers
for the destruction of rats in cases where the Council might be held
responsible for having this work carried out. I spent some interesting
afternoons watching the ferrets and the incredibly quick little
terriers at work killing rats at a speed which no one who had not seen
them at work would have thought possible. For the convenience
of occupiers of premises in the borough a scale of fees was agreed
upon with the firm so that persons responsible for the destruction
of rats could be referred to a reputable firm and, at the same time,
informed of the scale of charges. In all cases where information
of the presence of rats was received, enquiries were made into the
condition of the drainage system. After premises had been cleared
of rats by ferrets, etc., the rat catcher filled in any openings with
cement as necessary and carried out any small repairs required
for rat proofing, after which each premises dealt with was kept
under observation for one month to ascertain if there should be
any re-invasion by rats. Drains found to be defective were dealt
with in the ordinary way by the sanitary inspectors.
In 1924 poison baits were experimentally provided and laid
down under the supervision of the sanitary inspectors and by this
means 120 premises were effectively cleared of rats. This method
proved to be very successful and resulted in the extermination of a
very large number of rats without any complaints of smells after
the rats had been poisoned.
Close attention continued to be given to this problem of rats
and until 1940 the position was very satisfactory, but the air raid
damage to buildings, drains and sewers in this and later years led
to an increase in conditions favourable to rat infestation and the
policy was adopted of opening the ground and effectively sealing
off outlets from sewers where premises had been demolished and
sealing off unused drains and sanitary fittings in unoccupied war
damaged premises, thus preventing the escape of rats from sewers
into those premises which would provide harbourage and breeding
places. In view of the importance of protecting the already limited
food supplies it was necessary to pay particular attention to the
problem of rat and mice infestation during the war and the method
adopted not only considerably restricted losses due to these destructive
pests but also prevented the serious infestation of any premises.
In this connection it is interesting to note that in 1942 3,925 enquiries
at premises in which food was manufactured, stored or sold
revealed evidence of rat infestation at 103 premises (2.6 per cent.),
whereas 23,548 enquiries at other premises disclosed the presence
of rats in 744 cases (3.1 per cent.).
The Ministry of Food at this time carried out an intensive
Press campaign and as a result there was an increase in the number