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Rats (and mice) have been a con tinuing menace to food production and public health throughout human his tory. Every year, rats destroy or con taminate vast quantities of grain and grain products, milled feed and other foods. The rat is a threat to public health since it is a carried of diseases such as infectious jaundice, rat-bite fever, dysentery and food poisoning, to mention only a few. Serious Menace In considering the menace to food production it is well to remember that a single rat can eat and spoil over 100 0 pounds of grain a year, besides be coming a parent or grandparent to hundreds of other rats. They average 10 young per litter and can have up to 12 litters per year. Rat damage is al ways brought into sharp relief when ever large quantities of grain have to be stored either on farms or elsewhere, for long periods in temporary facilities. Effective rat control is doubly import ant under such circumstances and can only be achieved by giving attention to three fundamentals—sanitation (in cluding rat proofing), trapping, and poisoning. Until quite recently farmers and others used either Red Quill, “Antu” formulations or Calcium Cyanide for poisoning. These materials were effec tive but, with rats, “bait shyness con tinued to be a problem. Research Pays Off Fifteen years ago, Prof. Link and his associates at the University of Wiscon sin began to study “Sweet Clover Sickness” in cattle, where animals after eating spoiled sweet clover died from internal bleeding, caused by some chemical factor which made the blood clot more slowly than normal. This chemical factor was finally isolated, identified, and named Dicumarol. It is now used in Medicine as a blood anti coagulant to prevent coronary throm bosis, and post-operative blood clots. Further work lead to the discovery of a related material, very much more toxic than Dicumarol. This new anti cogulant proved to be an exceedingly effective rodent-killer. It was given the name Warfarin, and released for commercial distribution in 1950. The first four letters of the Warfarin stand for the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation who hold the patent rights, with the last four coming from the word Coumarin (the name of the sub stance which gives Sweet Clover its ‘bitter taste). A New Control Warfarin is a slow acting poison. It kills by thinning the blood. Conse quently, the rat or mouse may have to ‘eat Warfarin bait over a period of a bout ten days before death occurs. For best results then, it is necessary to pro vide plenty of bait (using cereal grains) and to renew the supply every three or four days. Warfarin has a low potential hazard to other animals but should be kept away from children and pets. Birds, fowl and sheep are highly resistant to this poison, while horses and cattle are not ordinarily endangered. Vitamin K, the blood clotting vitamin, is used as an antidote. Unless we wage relentless warfare on rats, using an effective poison such as Warfarin, they will continue to be— mankind's greatest enemy of the ani mal world.
Newspaper Details
Wainwright Star Chronicle
Wainwright, Alberta, CA
Wed, Sep 19, 1951
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Ted S.
CA 04 Nov 2025
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