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Let’s keep the rats out of Alberta, urges W. Lobay, Supervisor of Crop Protection, Alberta Departmen of Ag riculture. That long-time enemy of man, the rat, is looking with longing eyes across our eastern border and waiting for a chance to step in and make himself at home. The brown or Norway rat is one of the worst pests in the world. It destroys property, raids the pantry and food warehouses, and is a serious menace to health, agriculture and industry. It spreads bubonic pla gue, intestinal diseases, trichinosgls, and other diseases. It destroys grain, poultry, and merchandise. Twenty dollars a year is a lot of money to pay for the privilege of keep ing a rat alive on your premises. Yet twenty dollars a year is the estimate of the damage done by each and every to where these pests gain a foothold. And they are not content to remain single. One pair of rats may increase to fifty by the end of the year. At this rate of increase, damage and financial loss can mount quickly. In the United States, rats damage 200,000,000 bushels t rain yearly. The total annual rat is in that country is reported to be our two billion dollars. We have already found one colony of rats in Alberta. That was on a farm near Alsask last summer. Fortunately they were located and destroyed before they could do much damage, but this invasion is just a sign of things to come unless everybody remains on the alert. Organization for rat control is needed, and this organization is now underway. Every municipality, hamlet, village, town and city is asked by the Alberta Department of Agriculture to appoint a local pest control officer who will work closely with the district ag riculturist in an effort to see that every rat is destroyed as it appears In the pro vince. If you see or suspect the presence of rats on your premises report to your
Newspaper Details
Wainwright Star Chronicle
Wainwright, Alberta, CA
Wed, Dec 06, 1950
Page 9
Full Page
Clipped by
Ted S.
CA 04 Nov 2025
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