Electronic mouse trap

Back in the 1970s I worked for a publishing company which had its own presses. The motors of the presses were served by cable tunnels which were big enough to crawl through, under the machine foundations. One day there was an almighty burning smell from the tunnels, and when the site electrician investigated he emerged from the tunnel white-faced and said that the structures were full of rats, and that half of the cables had no insulation and were sparking. Rat-catchers were called and the rats were poisoned. One chose to expire in the hollow space under my office, and the smell was diabolical. I asked one of the rat catchers why rats ate plastic insulation, and he said they didn't, but they gnawed the plastic to keep their teeth sharp.

I went to buy some rat-poison blocks today, can only buy in 1.5 k packs now for safety reasons, but can buy as many packs as you want. Of course the price reflects the extra packaging. Our cats won't go near a full-grown rat. I admire the way the cats manage to eat everything and just leave a neatly removed gall bladder. BTW a 6" rat is very small, I've seen a rat stuck in a 4" drain pipe.

If rodenst can't chew enough their teeth grow round in a circle, up through the palate and into the brain...

Apparently, the enamel on a rat's tooth is the hardest organic material known.

A friend who worked as a Health Officer had an interesting story about being called into a turkey farm that was plagued with rats. The owner had tried everything, as did my friend, but the rats were thriving.

After quite a bit of head-scratching he checked into the contents of the turkey feed. They were adding a vitamin supplement (K, I think) that was the perfect antidote to the poison.

Having sussed that and removing the vitamin, the rats were beaten!

So don't leave the cornflakes laying around.

John