Full Revelations of a Professional Rat-catcher Part 3

Speaking of bags, a good many people seem to think that if a man puts his hand into a bagful of Rats they will bite him, but I can a.s.sure you that a child could do the same thing and not be bitten. Should there be only two or three in the bag, then they will bite, but not in the event of there being a good number. The same rule applies to Rats stored in a cage, where there is open daylight--if there be 40 or 50 Rats together, it is then the habit of the Rats for all to cling together, and they will let you handle them anyway if only you will have sufficient courage.

It is very good sport for gentlemen who want a good day's outing to go to farms when threshing is on, and also to go hunting and ferreting round the corn and wheat fields, and I think many sporting gentlemen who have not seen such sport would indulge in it freely after they had once witnessed it. I think it is much better and healthier sport than rabbit- shooting, especially in the summer when the farmers are cutting their corn and wheat.

When catching Rats as a regular pursuit, one is surprised at the queer places in which he finds them. I recollect ferreting seven full-sized Rats from under the floor of a built dog kennel not above four yards square, where a large mastiff and a terrier dog slept every night, only a 3/4-inch board dividing them from the Rats, and the Rats having eaten holes through the boards in the kennel! I have also found at an out-house an old b.i.t.c.h Rat and nine young ones in an old tin trunk without a lid. I have also caught Rats and taken young ones out of the nest from under railway sleepers where trains have been running and shunting operations carried on every day. And I have even taken old and young ones in their nest from a pile of Cheshire cheese, at a wholesale cheese and bacon factor's!

And mentioning cheese in this connection reminds me that once I discovered that Rats had scratched and eaten a hole direct through the bottom lot of cheese in a pile which had only been there three weeks.

A word or two about what a Rat will do with a ferret. I have often seen a Rat run a ferret out of the hole, and then wait with its head out of the hole until the ferret has come to it again. I remember once ferreting at a hencote, and put the ferret behind the hen nest, whereupon the Rat attacked the ferret, which then jumped back and died in five minutes, the Rats having given only one bite behind the ferret's ear! Of course this is a very rare occurrence. True, I have had many ferrets killed by Rats in my time, but it has always occurred through the poisonous bite first swelling and then "taking bad ways," the ferret dying in probably a week or so.

You must understand that if you put a Rat and a ferret together in a tub the ferret would kill the Rat in nine cases out of ten, the nature of the Rat being to get away from the ferret if possible; but if it cannot it will fight, and I think a Rat, for its size, is of a very vicious nature, for I have often seen when trying a puppy at killing a Rat in a pit, that a game Rat will run the puppy all round the pit. The best way to try a pup to kill a Rat is to draw the teeth of the first Rat it secures for sometimes if a pup gets a severe bite from a Rat it will never look at another. It is a very bad plan to let a pup play with a Rat too much, for this causes the pup never to put a hard mouth on the Rat. When this latter occurs it is the best plan not to allow the same pup to see another Rat until it is a month or two older. If you will take care and trouble with a pup you can bring it up to your own liking, and to do anything you want. I have worked seven years with a curly-coated retriever b.i.t.c.h, and when ferreting a brook she would stand in the water and catch the Rats that escaped from the nets into the brook and bring them to me alive in her mouth. I have sold hundreds of Rats she has caught in this manner, and to show you how the dogs can be brought up with the ferrets I need only mention that this b.i.t.c.h would lie down and let two ferrets kill a Rat on the curly coat of her back.

Farmers know too well of the many restless nights the cows and horses experience through Rats. I have seen when trapping all night at a farm the Rats running over the cows and horses whilst sleeping: and when horses have been working in the field all day they want better rest in the night. I have known when farmers would not let the Rat-catcher ferret their buildings gratis, simply because they have a few hens sitting. They don't consider that when the hens have hatched the eggs the Rats will take the chickens. Whenever a farmer has refused to let me ferret at his farm I have pa.s.sed that farm ever afterwards. To show you the different dispositions of farmers I have met, I may mention that when once ferreting at a farm, we caught nine rats and lost the ferret, and two days afterwards the ferret was found on the farm, and I sent for it, but the farmer demanded two shillings of me for the ferret's keep. This same man I may add farmed about two hundred acres.

Of course, there are other farmers just the opposite, who will not only pay you for your trouble, but take great interest in helping you to catch the Rats. I relate these facts and incidents to show you the contrast in the disposition of different people one meets in this business.

I don't think the Rat-catcher's life is one of the worst if he looks well after his business, for he has a few advantages over other occupations.

In the first place, he is his own master, and need only doff his coat when he chooses, there being for him no such summons to work as a factory bell. And if he fancies a day's outing in the country he can always take his dog and ferrets with him, and make a day's pleasure into a remunerative business, by reason of the income from the Rats, and I find from experience that the best friends he has are his dog and ferrets, if he will look well after them and treat them kindly, for I think that a Rat-catcher in the country without a good dog might walk over scores of Rats and never know they were there, so you will see that his dog is chiefly what he has to trust to.

And now, in conclusion, let me express the hope that this book will prove instructive, entertaining, and profitable to my readers, inasmuch as I have endeavoured to make it so to the best of my ability and within the somewhat limited scope and sphere of a Rat-catcher's calling. Of course, I might have made the narrative portion of the book more startling and exciting, had I drawn upon my imagination, but I have thought it best to adhere to cold fact and actual experience.

HINTS ON RABBIT SHOOTING.

Always have your gun made at your gunmaker's to your own liking.

Always be prepared for the worst of weather, and be sure to have good strong boots.

Never have your gun on full c.o.c.k while walking about, especially whilst going through a fence.

Never stand too close to a burrow, and don't be too eager to shoot.

Always have your gun pointed upwards to the clouds or down to the ground.

Never shoot at a rabbit as it sits on the top of the hole, or you might shoot the ferret. Always stand so that all the shooters can see one another.

Never remove from where the gamekeeper places you.

Never have your gun barrels up while it is raining.

When you go out in the country always provide yourself with refreshments before starting.

If you miss an easy shot don't blame the gun.

Don't be too excited, and get well on the rabbits before you pull.

If the keeper's dog is retrieving rabbits never attempt to take one from it.

AUTHOR'S NOTES.

IKE MATTHEWS is prepared to go out Ratting with parties of gentlemen or their gamekeepers on their private estates during the summer, supplying dog, ferrets, and nets, at moderate charges. Arrangements may be made by post.

IKE MATTHEWS is also willing to go out rabbit-shooting with gentlemen during the season, and will supply and work ferrets at reasonable charges. He is also prepared to break dogs and puppies to ferreting and Ratting on reasonable terms.

Any number of live Rats and rabbits supplied at a few days' notice.

All orders promptly attend to.

Undeniable References.

Yours truly.

IKE MATTHEWS.