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Barn hunt is the competitive sport of using dogs to find rats hidden within hay bails. Tame rats are placed in a hard tube to prevent injury and hidden in hay bails, after which dogs are employed to find them.[1]
History
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Ratting has existed for centuries, especially in Europe.[2][3] The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention list over 20 diseases directly linked to rats, making ratting dogs popular as a way of curbing disease[2] [4][5] Rats are associated with damage to crops and buildings.[6][5] In Medieval times, rat-catchers were employed to curb the spread of disease. Rat-catchers who employed dogs were considerably more successful and rat-catchers with packs of ratting dogs would frequently travel from town to town.[5][3][7]
Many of the first documented ratters were during the mid to late 1800s in the United Kingdom. As the population in London grew, overcrowding and inadequate waste management systems caused the hygiene levels to fall and the use of rat-catchers and their ratting dogs rose in popularity.[2][3][8]
The Guinness Book of World Records lists as the "fastest canine rat catcher" a bull-and-terrier dog named Billy, who killed 100 rats in 5 minutes 30 seconds (average of one rat every 3.3 seconds) at an event in 1825.[9] Guinness also credits Billy with having killed 4000 rats within a 17-hour period (average of one rat every 15.3 seconds) on an unspecified occasion;[9] other sources, including the 1993 edition of Atlas of Dog Breeds of the World, credit him with killing 2501 rats within a 7-hour period (average of one rat every 10 seconds).[10][11][12][13]
During World War I, ratting dogs were used to control rat populations in trenches.[5]
The use of ratting dogs is increasing again in many areas as rats have developed an immunity to rat poisons.[14][15] Ryders Alley Trencher-fed Society (R.A.T.S.) is a New York City group founded in the 1990s[16] that conducts organized rat hunting with dogs. The group was named by founding member Richard Reynolds after Ryders Alley in Manhattan, which was once rat infested, and the trencher-fed pack assembled to hunt.[17][18][19] The group often hunts in Lower Manhattan locations like Theatre Alley where garbage is accessible to vermin.[20][21]
Sport
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Rat-baiting is a blood sport that involves releasing captured rats in an enclosed space with spectators betting on how long a dog, usually a terrier, takes to kill the rats. It is now illegal in most countries.
An earthdog trial tests the working ability and instinct of the small, often short-legged terriers or Dachshunds. Earthdog trials involve man-made tunnels that the dogs must navigate, while scenting a rat, "the quarry". The dog must follow the scent to the quarry and then "work" the quarry. Depending on the sanctioning organization, "working" means barking, scratching, staring, pawing, digging; any active behavior. The quarry is protected at all times by wooden bars across the end of the tunnel. The hunting encounter is controlled, and neither the dog nor the quarry (usually two rats) are endangered by the activity.[22][23]
References
edit- ^ Gillespie, Kerry (2022-04-15). "'In it for the treats': Ratting, where dogs sniff out live rats for awards, is making a comeback". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
- ^ a b c "Rat Hunting Dogs: The History Of Rat Terriers and Ratcatchers". A Life of Dogs. 2020-02-24. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
- ^ a b c Chronicler (2022-02-01). "Professional Rat Catchers Became The Pride of A Filthy Europe". Lessons from History. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
- ^ "How to Control Wild Rodent Infestations | Healthy Pets, Healthy People | CDC". www.cdc.gov. 2023-02-15. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
- ^ a b c d "Barn Hunt Association". www.barnhunt.com. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
- ^ Chicago, Casey Toner, Mina Bloom, Block Club (2023-08-31). "Why Chicago is Losing the War on Rats". Illinois Answers Project. Retrieved 2023-09-05.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Matthews, Ike (1898). Full Revelations of a Professional Rat-Catcher, after 25 Years' Experience. The Friendly Societies' Printing Co., Ltd.
- ^ "The Rat-Catcher Job And Rat-Baiting: Myth And History | Weird History Facts". weird-history-facts.com. 2023-06-07. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
- ^ a b "Fastest canine rat catcher". Guinness World Records. 1825-04-13. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
- ^ Wilcox, Bonnie, DVM; Walkowicz, Chris (1993). Rat Terrier. Vol. 2 (4th ed.). Neptune, New Jersey: T.F.H. pp. 714–715. ISBN 0-86622-873-X.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Rat Terrier savearescue.org
- ^ "newratstandards1". www.nrta.com. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
- ^ "HISTORY OF THE RAT TERRIER". ratattacknc.tripod.com. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
- ^ Henton, Alexandra (2015-02-11). "Ratting with terriers. Which terrier is top?". The Field. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
- ^ Schappi, Colin (2023-04-12). "Rat-Hunting Dogs in Bushwick". Curbed. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
- ^ Leah Bitsky (March 23, 2017), "Meet the fearless dogs solving NYC's rat problem", New York Post
- ^ Corey KILGANNON (November 21, 2013), "In Manhattan Alleys, Dogs on Rat Hunts Find Bags of Fun", The New York Times
- ^ WILL NEWMAN (December 9, 2014), Spending a Night with New York's Finest Rat-Hunting Club, Vice.com
- ^ Emma Patti Harris (August 11, 2014), "The Rat Catchers of New York", The Dark Room (Photo essay), The Baltimore Sun
- ^ Corey Kilgannon (December 7, 2013), "Brits can keep their foxes; New Yorkers do rat hunts", The SeattleTimes
- ^ Mitch Moxley (2013), The Rat Hunters of New York, Roads & Kingdoms, retrieved 2017-10-02
- ^ Lee, Muriel P. (2012-04-17). Fox Terrier. Fox Chapel Publishing. ISBN 978-1-59378-630-4.
- ^ "About the American Working Terrier Association (AWTA)". American Working Terrier Association (AWTA). Retrieved 2023-09-05.