Rat Terrier Dogs for Natural Pest Control
Organic farmers should appreciate the vigilance of the rat terrier breed of dog against rabbits, squirrels, rats and other nibblers of your produce. Calmer than Jack Russell terriers, rat terriers are also more appropriate as a typical family dog.
A Boing Boing post by Cory Doctorow about rats in an upscale L.A. community got me thinking about how vermin could be controlled in an off-grid, organic-friendly manner.
One of the commenters to Doctorow’s post mentioned Jack Russells as rat hunters. Cory’s personal blog is called CrapHound. Another recent post by Doctorow about satirical WWI-era maps featured countries represented by different canine breeds. So with dogs on the brain, I searched Wikipedia for Jack Russells, but found no mention of their rat hunting skills. However, I did find a “related link” to a breed I’d never heard of before–the Rat Terrier.
Rat terriers seem to be lost Americana, like the Victory Gardens of WW1 and WW2, and deserve to be rescued from the dustbin of history.
If you were creeped out by Willard
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Terrier:
Sphere: Related ContentRat Terriers were cherished as loyal and efficient killers of vermin on 20th century American Farms, as well as excellent hunting companions. As a result they were one of the most popular dog types from the 1920s to the 1940s. However the widespread use of chemical pesticides and the growth of commercial farming led to a sharp decline in the breed from the 1950s onwards. Fortunately breed loyalists maintained the bloodline, leading to the modern Rat Terrier we enjoy today.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:47 am
I can recommend the greyhound as an excellent breed for the control of pests. They also make great pets as they actually require very little exercise for such a large dog. When not chasing squirrels and rabbits they spend most of the day sleeping