I do not dislike cats, but I desire to see them kept at home and within
control. If persons say that they cannot keep them on their own
premises, then these persons should not be allowed to have them. A bell
on the cat will prevent it from capturing old birds, and this may answer
a good purpose late in the season; but it will not stop the robbing of
nests or the taking of young birds, and here is where the greatest havoc
is wrought.

It is often asserted that cats must roam in order that rats and mice may
be reduced; but probably few house mice and few rats are got by
wandering cats; and, again, many cats are not mousers. There are other
ways of controlling rats and mice; or if cats are employed for this
purpose, see that they are restricted to the places where the house rats
and mice are to be found.

Many persons like squirrels about the place, but they cannot expect to
have both birds and squirrels unless very special precautions are taken.

The English or house sparrow drives away the native birds, although he
is himself an attractive inhabitant in winter, particularly where native
birds are not resident. The English sparrow should be kept in reduced
numbers. This can be easily accomplished by poisoning them in winter
(when other birds are not endangered) with wheat soaked in strychnine
water. The contents of one of the eighth-ounce vials of strychnine that
may be secured at a drug store is added to sufficient water to cover a
quart of wheat. Let the wheat stand in the poison water twenty-four to
forty-eight hours (but not long enough for the grains to sprout), then
dry the wheat thoroughly. It cannot be distinguished from ordinary
wheat, and sparrows usually eat it freely, particularly if they are in