PART IV. LIFE OF THE RAT-CATCHER.

This work will not be complete if I do not deal with the Rat-catcher's life. The profession is a peculiar and exciting one, but all right if pursued in the right way. Although the calling takes one into dirty and obnoxious places, there is no reason why the Rat-catcher should not always appear respectable. The Rat-catcher has many temptations to dishonest conducts, for instance, when Rat-catching on a farm or private estate where there are numerous rabbits and game. It looks rather hard lines for the Rat-catcher to come off a farm with his cage full of Rats and see rabbits running about whilst he has all the requisites in his possession for catching them; and yet he must not touch one, but go home and merely reflect on what a good Sunday's dinner he is leaving behind. This I have experienced many a time, but I have always found even from the business view-point that the old advice still remains true, "Honesty is the best policy." Leaving the rabbits to themselves has always turned out to be the best, for to take a rabbit worth a shilling, and get caught in the act, means that you can never go on the same estate again. And from that same estate you might have got 500 Rats in a year, worth four shillings a dozen.

I must also put in a good word here for the gamekeepers. My opinion is that if you go on a keeper's ground and do what is right, you will be able to go again, for in the whole of my experience never having carried any nets but Rat nets when on private estates, I have the consolation of knowing that I should always be welcome on going again to such estates.

Of course there are inconveniences that the Rat-catcher has to put up with. Whatever engagements he takes in a town, the only time he can catch Rats with a good result is in the night. On one occasion, when going round with my bull's-eye lamp to examine the traps, I was taken for a burglar by the policeman on the beat, and he doubted me so much that he would not release me until I had shown him my cage with Rats in and my traps set all over the place. Then he took almost as much interest in the catching of Rats as myself, and also brought in the other policemen who were outside waiting for me to attempt an escape. Ever after that, when I had a night's engagement in any town, I always went to the police station to tell the man on that beat where I was.

It behoves the Rat-catcher to be always attentive to his customers, those, I mean, who want live Rats wherewith to try their dogs. Amongst mine I have the honour to include clients of highest rank and position, barristers, magistrates, solicitors and a host of sporting gentry. If the Rat-catcher's efforts commend themselves to such gentlemen, and he always maintains a respectable appearance, he will obtain some very nice outings in the country. Oft-times a party of gentlemen have sent for me in the summer, having arranged with me to bring four or five ferrets and Ratting appliances, and we have gone 50 miles up the country. They would bring their terrier dogs, and we would hunt all along the brooks and rivers, and round the corn and wheat fields, putting the Rats we caught into the cage, and after lunch, taking the Rats to a meadow and coursing them with their dogs, which I think it real good sport. We would put up at the best hotels and repeat the procedure next day, very often taking a drag or coach, and driving ten or a dozen miles farther up the country.

I can assure my readers that the Rat-catcher is well remunerated for the trouble he undertakes in these cases, and moreover this is the class of people he requires to fraternise with. There is always a plentiful supply of "refreshments" on these outings, and I would therefore advise the Rat-catcher not to indulge too freely.

The foregoing is, of course, a brief sketch of the pleasantest part of a Rat-catcher's life, and to complete the picture I may as well describe some of the other features, and the way he has to rough it sometimes. Well, Rat-catchers are generally called upon to supply Rats for the Rat coursings usually held at beerhouses, etc., on Saturday afternoons, which one often sees advertised. Now, if he binds himself to supply a coursing at a certain date, the bills announcing the event are printed and posted, all of which means expense. Then you are bound to secure the live Rats, whatever be the weather. In doing this I always followed the threshing machine to the bays and stacks. (Anyone that catches Rats regularly can tell by looking at the bays or stacks whether there are many Rats in or not.) I remember many times when the men have started threshing a bay of wheat in which were a great many Rats, and by dark they have threshed only half of the bay. At such times the Rat-catcher must not leave the remaining half, no, not for half-an-hour throughout the whole night, for if he does the Rats will run out. To stop the Rats from leaving, the Rat- catcher has to lie on the top of the bay or go about every thirty minutes and beat the bottom with sticks until daylight, in order to keep the Rats in. Then, after the machine re-starts, and the bottom of the bay is reached, the Rat-catcher will be well paid for his trouble, for he may get, say, 150 good Rats for the coursing, at six shillings per dozen. The reason I call them good coursing Rats is because they have not been handled, and that enables them to run well.

Now, when you go to these coursings (which are mostly in the colliery districts) you will find about 60 dogs entered. It is the Rat-catcher's business to measure and handicap the dogs, and a very unpleasant job it is. He has also to be the referee at these coursings, and if it is a "near thing" with two dogs running at one rat, and you decide to award the victory to a given one, then the owner of the other dog will probably accuse you of wrong-doing and favouritism. Then is the time the Rat-catcher has to be prepared to pull off his coat and start fighting before, perhaps, 500 spectators. This has often occurred with me. This, I can assure my readers, is what I call "roughing it."

Of course, what I have just related occurred a few years ago, but when the Muzzling Order came into force, the authorities practically stopped Rat coursing, for they would not let a dog run at a Rat unless the dog was muzzled. This was about the worst thing that the authorities could do for Manchester and district, for at that time I was supplying for coursings about 100 Rats per week, and at the same time sending 50 Rats a week into Yorkshire, and all the Rats I supplied were caught within 15 miles of Manchester. This in my opinion, speaks very bad of the Muzzling Order, which I think is nothing but a farce, for at the very time I was going ratting, dogs were muzzled in some parts of the country but not in others. My opinion of dog muzzling is, muzzle all or muzzle none.

You will see by what I have said respecting these coursings, etc., that the Rat-catcher has plenty of work to supply so many live rats, and he has also to mix with company high and low. He also sometimes experiences difficulties in travelling on the railway. I have often entered an empty third-class carriage, sent my dog under the seat, and put the Rat cage there also. The carriage would fill with passengers, and upon reaching my destination I would take from under the seat my cage full of live Rats, to the amusement of some and the disgust of others.

I have also entered a railway carriage with my cage of rats when there were passengers in, one or two of whom would generally object to live Rats being in the same compartment, and on enquiring of the railway officials, I have found that any one travelling with live Rats is expected to put them in the guard's van.

I have also had a few good customers in my business, one or two in particular. Gentlemen have often sent me post-cards instructing me to take six or twelve Rats to their residences. I would run them out on the lawn in front of the house with their dogs, and generally I have received good remuneration for my trouble. These are the customers who should be looked well after, for they are the sportsmen who do not consider expense, though of course there are others who are just the opposite.

Further, Rat-catching is a business in which one is not called upon to allow credit. It is all a ready-money trade, and as there is not much competition, the Rat-catcher can command a good price for his work. He has always one resource open to him when he has finished a job according to contract (catching say 40 or 50 Rats), should there be a dispute about the price and the people decline to pay the bill, then he has the expedient of letting the Rats at liberty again in the place where he had caught them. Most people will pay the price you send in rather than have the Rats turned loose again.

Although I am showing how the Rat-catcher can always have the advantage of stubborn payers, I may as well assure my readers that in all my experience such an occurrence as the above has never happened with me, simply because I always make my arrangements beforehand, which course I always find the best and most satisfactory all round.

Another matter I may mention. If any one could find out a sure way of catching Rats so that he could give a guarantee to clear large buildings, my opinion is that he would make a fortune in a very short time; for I know firms in Manchester alone that would pay almost any amount to be rid of the Rats; not only because of what they consume, but more for the damage they do to their goods.

I have referred to the Rat-catcher obtaining good pay. The reason he commands such a big price for his work at the present time is because there is not much sale for live Rats. The trade is not what it was some years ago when Rat-pits were allowed. I think it was one of the worst things they ever did for this country when the authorities stopped the Rat pits, for when Rat killing was allowed in pits, it was a common thing for a Rat-catcher to receive an order for 100 Rats, all to be killed at one time; then the Rat-catcher would get the Rats and wherever he got them from he was ridding that district of a nuisance. But when the authorities stopped Rat-pits and Rat-coursing, the consequence was that the Rat-catcher left the Rats to breed in thousands. Rats being vermin, I don't see why they should not be killed 50 or 100 at a time in the pit, but the Humane Society maintain that it is cruelty to dogs to put them in a pit with a lot of Rats. I don't see where the cruelty comes in, but from what I have seen of Rat-pits during my time I approve of them, and I think if they were in existence again there would be a clearing of many thousands of Rats. Some 15 or 20 years since, I supplied 400 Rats in one week, all to be killed in Rat-pits.

Many of my readers may not understand what a Rat-pit is, and so I will just give an outline as well as I can.

The Rat-pit is of circular construction, say ten feet diameter, and about four feet six inches deep, the sides being perfectly smooth to prevent the rats climbing up and making their escape. A certain number of Rats are placed in the pit according to the arrangements made with the owner of the dog. Then the dog is put in the pit with the rats to kill them, which a good dog does very quickly.

The reason the pit is built circular is so that the Rats will keep running round, for if it were square they would all run in a corner, one on the other, and then the dog would have no difficulty in killing them. It is better to have the pit fairly deep; if not, the rats might escape.

I think the best dog, within my recollection, that I have seen was a bull and fox terrier, which killed 40 good Rats in three minutes and 21 seconds. I have read and heard of dogs doing better feats, but I am only writing of what I have myself seen. I may say that the records for Rat- killing in Rat-pits are held by a dog called Jacko, which killed 200 Rats in 14 minutes and 37 seconds, and 1,000 Rats in less than one hour and 40 minutes.

The Rat-catcher has also some very dirty jobs to do sometimes. Often he has to go under all sorts of cellar floors, both wet and dry, but the majority of places are very wet and dirty, for the Rats nearly always come out of some filthy drain, and very often near a water-closet, the abominable smell arising from these places being sufficient to cause a fever.

I remember being once employed at a hospital, and I was paid at the rate of 5s. per visit for trapping Rats. Well, I found that 5s. per visit did not pay me (I had about 120 traps set all over the place), so I went before the committee and requested 8s. per night. The committee said they thought 5s. per visit was enough, and one or two of them said they thought 8s. per night was above a Rat-catcher's pay. Now, as I was not depending on that particular job at the time, I turned round and told them what I thought. I told them I considered Rat-catching was a skilled occupation, and I also offered any of them a five-pound note if they would only follow me under the floors at midnight, not to speak of taking the live Rats out of the traps in the dark; but I can assure you that none of these gentlemen would venture to undertake the task.

Now, if any of these gentlemen had to do this a few times they would not refuse to pay the Rat-catcher the sum he asks, viz., 8s. per night.

I remember more than once in big places such as bonding warehouses, when I have been under the floors, my candle or lamp has gone out through being knocked over with grabbing at Rats, and I have not had a match in my pocket, and have had to grope about in the dark trying to find the trap-door where I have got under the floors, more often than not putting my hand in a set trap. It would be of no use shouting for a light simply because I have been alone. It is always better for a Rat-catcher to have assistance for night work, but I have done it myself very often.

Now, the expenses of travelling come very heavy sometimes, for wherever the Rat-catcher goes he always has to pay railway fare for himself and his dog.

Another thing I must tell you. Often when I have gone to inspect a small building I have found that there were a great many Rats in, but I have also known, after inspecting the place, that they have all come from the one place, out of the drain. Well, if I have contracted to do this job for a lump sum, I could easily clear this place and not catch an odd Rat, simply by ferreting them all back into the sewer in the daytime, and then making it good; but in most of these cases they do not like to pay your bill because you have caught no Rats. Still, you have driven them all down the drains, and after making the drain good they cannot get back again into the building.

Now, in a case like this I always trap them two or three nights and catch a few, just to give satisfaction to those engaging me.

Sometimes gentlemen will write inviting me to meet them at a certain farm, and bring my ferrets and a good supply of nets, alleging that there are "hundreds of Rats in the stacks." I just relate this to indicate how anyone not regularly amongst Rats can easily be deceived as to their numbers, for a couple of Rats on the thatch of a stack, especially when they have young ones, will probably have twelve holes eaten in the thatch and underneath the stack, and anyone not understanding their habits would think there were a lot of Rats in it.

And it is much the same with workpeople; if they chance to see two or three Rats at once, they will say there are "scores" of them. You would also be surprised to see the awful dread that tenants have of the Rat- catcher in private houses. When ferreting these places they think that if a Rat-catcher has once put his ferrets under the floor they will never see another Rat in the place; but depend upon it they are very bad to catch in these places.

I have often had much trouble respecting houses, warehouses, etc., to know whose duty it would be to pay the Rat-catcher for his work, the landlord's or the tenant's, but I think that the landlord should pay. I have had many engagements to catch Rats in newly-built houses before they were tenanted. The time the Rats get into these places is whilst the workmen are putting the drains in the back yards, leaving the drains open at nights. Thence the Rats come out and get under the floors, sometimes having to stop there, too, simply because the next day the joiners board up the floors and thus block the Rats in underneath, and then the Rats can always get into the kitchens up the back of the fireplace. Most property owners would do well to take note of this fact.

I must tell my readers, especially those having large shops, etc., that it is a good plan, if possible, to turn off the gas and water every night and week-end, for I have seen a good many cases where the Rats in the night-time have eaten through a water-pipe, and the place has been flooded by morning. It is just the same with a gas-pipe, and my opinion is that it is quite possible for fires to be caused by Rats in the night- time. Rats are very fond of nibbling and scratching at soft wood, and it would be an easy matter at a grocer's shop for a Rat to bite or scratch through the package of a gross of matches and ignite them, and the same cause may prove disastrous with any other inflammable goods.

Respecting the conveyance of live Rats, the Rat-catcher should always be particular to have good strong cages and bags, because if he had a number of Rats in an unserviceable bag which happened to break open at a railway station or in the street, I think he could be summoned for the damage the escaped Rats might do. Still, I have not in my time had or heard of a case of this sort.

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 assure 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 bitch 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 bitch, 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 bitch 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 passed 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 cock 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.