January Target Date
For Second Phase of
City’s War On Rats
Rats don’t like cheese.
They like filth, garbage, sewers,
trashcans, dumped table scraps —and
other generally unsanitary spots.
They breed best in junky, moist
places, but they aren’t choosy; they’ll
live about any place they can find
food.
In High Point, the Model Neigh
borhood harbors a great number of
rats.
The conditions there are ripe for
the rodents to breed and live —and
where the conditions aren’t so bad,
chances are they are across the street
or even next door.
Last spring Model Cities, with the
cooperation of the High Point Public
Works Department and Guilford
County Health Department undertook
a rodent control and stream clearance
project in the Macedonia area of the
Model Neighborhood.
Health department personnel work
ed six weeks to complete a house-to-
house survey and bait the area. The
entire area was baited three times and
another segment a fourth time.
Public works officials assessed that
90 percent of the rodent population
in Macedonia was killed.
However, because many residents
did not follow the clean-up campaign
with keeping their lots garbage-free,
the rats are back.
So the war on rats in the Model
Neighborhood is going to be continued.
PHASE TWO
Phase two of the rodent control and
stream clearance project will get un
derway in January. Project administra
tor Jim Fulbright of the Public Works
Department, the operating agency for
the Model Cities project, has an
nounced that his department and the
county health officials have set the
Know Your Rights
You can be arrested for . . .
1. A felony — a serious crime which
may be punishable by death or im
prisonment in the state prison (for ex
ample, murder, robbery, burglary).
2. A misdemeanor — any other crime
punishable by imprisonment for two
years or less, or by fine (for example,
assault, disorderly conduct, trespass).
3. Violation of a city or county
ordinance (for example, violation of a
housing code or zoning ordinance).
4. A trafiBc violation (for example,
speeding, reckless driving, drunken
driving).
A policeman or law enforcement (rfficer
may arrest you . . .
1. When he sees you commit a
felony or misdemeanor.
2. When he has reason to believe
that a felony has been committed and
that you are the guilty party.
3. When he has a warrant for your
arrest. A warrant is issued by a judge
or magistrate. If a policeman has a
warrant for your arrest, he must tell
you he has it.
first of the year as their target date
to begin.
The second phase of the war on rats
will not be confined to a particular
neighborhood, or even to the Model
Neighborhood itself if necessary.
Where harborages exist near a Model
Neighborhood lot, sanitarians will treat
them as if they lay inside the Model
Cities boundaries.
The first step in the rodent control
project is a door-to-door survey, again
conducted by Health Department of
ficial Ed Baker and his crew of sani
tarians. They will give each resident
within the Model Neighborhood a
check list of household and property
improvements they can make to help
combat the rat problem themselves.
Residents will be asked to indicate
such things as garbage cans, junked
cars, dog pens, weeds, improper sew
ers, sheds, and outdoor toilets —any
thing that might lead to rats.
Afterward, a return visit will be
made to see whether the resident has
cleaned up his property and made the
suggested improvements.
In about 10 days, a general rat
baiting and cleanup campaign will
be undertaken by the city — to get rid
of junk, debris and underbrush on the
property, and clean out streams near
by at the same time.
The entire operation, including a
continued baiting program, is expect
ed to last about six months.
The efiFectiveness of the war on rats,
however, will depend upon the Model
Neighborhood residents themselves.
‘The main thing in a program like
this is education,” says Ed Baker. “We
aren’t going to be too far-reaching if
the harborage conditions build up
again.
“So long as a rat can find food, he’ll
feel at home.”
LITTLE COOPERATION
One of the biggest draw-backs in
the spring campaign, according to
Clyde Weeks, sanitation enforcement
officer who coordinates the rodent
control project, is “lack of neighbor
hood co-operation.”
“Oh, they were tickled to death to
have us clean up,” says Weeks of the
Macedonia residents. “But they made
no effort to speak of to keep it up.
They did clean up at the time, but
they didn’t maintain the garbage pick
up or continue to keep their junk out
of their yards.
“In other words, when we quit, they
quit,” he said.
The new phase of the rodent cam
paign is funded jointly by Model
Cities and the city of High Point. The
baiting of the rats will be carried out
by the Public Works Department un-
' der the direction of Fulbright and
Weeks.
The bait boxes will contain a type
of poison which will kill rats only if
they eat it every day for six days. Only
prolonged intake of large doses of this
poison can harm pets or humans, ac
cording to Baker.
The rat found in High Point is com
1
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36
" ^ ^ •
RAT BAIT, such as that in the pan, will be placed in large quantities
within the Model Neighborhood beginning in January as part of the city’s
rodent campaign. (High Point Enterprise photo by Jim Stratford)
monly known as the wharf, bam, sewer
or gutter rat. Different from mice, it
can grow up to 18 inches long from
nose to tail, and can weigh as much
as a pound.
Rats, who live in colonies, have an
average lifespan of 18 months. With
in that time, a female usually bears
eight to 10 litters of six to 16 babies
each.
The female is capable, however, of
bearing a litter every 30 days after she
is four to five months old. Therefore,
a female can easily produce up to 160
babies in her lifetime.
Multiplying the number of female
offspring who in turn have litters, and
so on, produces numbers Baker calls
“staggering.”
Even if a substantial nimiber of the
rodents fail to reach maturity, the rat
population can still grow out of hand
with “no trouble at all,” according to
the health specialist.
Rats and their parasites are capable
of transmitting 54 diseases, including
several types of dysentary, food poison
ing, typhoid and rabies.
To keep rats in check, says Ful
bright, is a city-wide problem, and
something that is going to take the
cooperation of every resident inside
and out of the Model Neighborhood.
“We don’t have any Pied Piper,” he
said, “but we are encouraging people
to give each other garbage cans for
Christmas.”
Outreach Services Offered
By Citizen Participation
The new Citizen Participation office
at 1305 Franklin Street has expanded
its services, and has plans for more.
Milt Stallings, CP director, said the
project can offer more outreach serv
ices now that it has its own home out
side the Model Cities office.
Home economics classes are now
being held to teach Model Neighbor
hood women how to deal with com
modity, surplus foods. Jeannette Le-
Grande, a member of the CP staff, will
demonstrate ways to vary menus with
these basic foods.
The Neighborhood Youth Corps is
now working out of the CP office,
helping Model Neighborhood teen
agers between the ages of 14 and 16
to find parttime jobs.
“P T A” meetings, patterned after
those in schools, are held at the office
once a month to involve NYC young
sters and their parents.
Vocational Rehabilitation counselor
Gloria Sims is now at the CP head
quarters on Mondays, Wednesdays and
Fridays from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. Her
schedule will differ according to the
demand for her counseling.
Thurman Dubose of the Model
Cities’ cultural arts center will be at
the CP office on a regular basis to give
instruction in drawing, music, and
drama. In this second location, Dubose
can hopefully reach more young peo
ple with his program, Stallings said.
His schedule can be obtained at the
CP office. (Continued on Page 3)
Credit Tip
There are several purchase pitfalls
families can fall into, especially fam
ilies with tight budgets. Here are some
warning signs for consimiers, called the
ten most unwanted extravagances:
1. Impulse purchases.
2. Bargain hunting for item not in
your planned needs.
3. Unnecessary purchases of gadgets
and souvenirs; books and encyclopedia
for children before they can use them;
and door-to-door sales items.
4. Large cars, too frequent trading,
too many cars.
5. Homes too costly for income or
too far from work; careless use of
utilities, improper maintenance and up
keep and poor care of appliances.
6. Life insurance on the wrong per
son. Insurance dollars should go on
the wage earner’s life to insure income
if he should die.
7. Not planning ahead. Planning can
keep you from buying things on im
pulse that you don’t need, as well as
help you save to avoid credit charges.
8. Not shopping around. Compari
son shopping is the only way to know
what you really have to pay for an
item. A good way is to shop by phone.
9. Not waiting for a sale. Most items
go on sale twice a year, so take ad
vantage of the bargains.
10. Buying from irreputable dealers.
Check references if you’re not sure.
This buying tip teas provided by
Consumer Credit Counseling, Inc., 142
Church Avenue. Phone Barry Boneno
at 885-0041.