Book description
RATS AND HOW TO DESTROY THEM By Mark Hovell. Originally published in
1924, this rare early work on rats and their control is both expensive
and hard to find in its first edition. READ COUNTRY BOOKS has
republished it in an affordable, high quality, modern edition using the
original text and artwork. The author was an expert and dedicated
destroyer of rats who also invented the "Terrier" Death Run
Rat Trap and the Blocking Trap. He was persuaded to write this
fascinating book after fighting a memorable battle in ridding a friend's
house and farm of a long established and numerous rat colony. Utilising
his vast knowledge of the Brown and the Black Rat, and his many years of
practical experience in their destruction, he penned this, the most
comprehensive of all books ever published on this particular subject.
Over five hundred pages contain forty eight detailed chapters including
: - Habits and Natural History of the Rat. - Traps, Type and Use -
Signals. - Trapping Methods. - Snaring. - Ferrets and Ferreting. - The
Mongoose. - Dogs. - Trailing. - Poisoning. - Virus. - Blocking. -
Flooding. - Fumigation. - Varnish and Rat Lime Trap. - The Rodier
System. How to Deal with Rats in the House, Shop, Outbuildings, Yards,
Stables, Cow -Houses, Fowl Pens, Pig Sties, Gardens, Greenhouses, Rivers
and Ships. - Rats on Shooting Estates and Farms. - Sewers. - Notes on
Plague. - Cancer in Rats. etc etc. There are also chapters on the
control of mice, cockroaches and sparrows, with extra detailed chapters
on traps and their design. Over fifty text illustrations are included,
detailing trap design and usage etc. Also retained are several pages of
vintage advertisements for rat traps, poisons, baits, books etc. This is
a fascinating read for anyone interested in the countryside, rural
conservation, pest control, game keeping etc, with much of the
historical information remaining useful and practical today. Many of the
earliest sporting books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and
before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. READ
COUNTRY BOOKS are republishing many of these classic works in
affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and
artwork.
