Sometimes the men amused themselves by baiting the ends of their rifles with pieces of bacon in order to have a shot at them at close quarters.
Cats and terriers were kept by soldiers in the frontline trenches to help free them of disease-carrying rats. The terriers were actually very effective in killing rats.
For example, cats and dogs were kept by soldiers in the trenches to "help maintain hygiene" by culling the rodent population. Terrier dogs were especially useful, more so than cats, as they were bred to kill vermin and for hunting purposes which was applied to eliminating rats in the trenches.
As the rats become bigger and bolder over time, they would even eat food from soldiers' hands and some soldiers captured and kept them as pets to give them a brief respite from the horrors all around.
To try and control the population, soldiers took to shooting the rats on sight, practicing bayonet thrusts on them, and getting pets to devour them. Some officers offered rewards for most killed, but all these efforts did little to stop the infestation. Image 2: A photo of Lieutenant Rayner's diary.
Rat-catchers would attempt to catch the vermin themselves, or use animals trained to hunt and kill them. Alternatively, they could use rat traps.
Fat rodents, which the men call "corpse-rats," gnaw the men's bread. Detering makes a game of outwitting the creatures.
They usually went for the eyes first and then they burrowed their way right into the corpse.
By the First World War (1914-18), Army food was basic, but filling. Each soldier could expect around 4,000 calories a day, with tinned rations and hard biscuits staples once again. But their diet also included vegetables, bread and jam, and boiled plum puddings. This was all washed down by copious amounts of tea.
Trench conditions were ideal for rats. There was plenty of food, water and shelter. With no proper disposal system the rats would feast off food scraps. The rats grew bigger and bolder and would even steal food from a soldier's hand.
The soldier fired into No Man's Land, the area between the enemy trenches. Soldiers were ordered to keep firing even if they did not see anything. This was called the “morning hate.” The constant fire would keep the enemy from sneaking up on the trench.
Most soldiers who served on the Western Front would later recall how rats grew in boldness, stealing food that had been lain down for just a few moments. Rats would also crawl across the face of sleeping men. As they gorged themselves on food so they grew, with many rats reportedly growing to the size of cats.
Some of these rats grew extremely large. Harry Patch claimed that "there were rats as big as cats". Another soldier wrote: "The rats were huge. They were so big they would eat a wounded man if he couldn't defend himself." These rats became very bold and would attempt to take food from the pockets of sleeping men.
Tough, battle-hardened South Korean troops were justly feared by Vietcong and North Vietnamese regulars alike during the Vietnam War.
According to the Department of Defense, a total of 700 soldiers served as Tunnel Rats during the Vietnam War. Of the number, 36 were killed and 200 injured.
Saturation/surplus baiting
Saturation (aka surplus) baiting is used for multi-feed anticoagulant baits. This process requires the rat or mouse to feed 'multiple' times to ingest a lethal amount of that bait. The cumulative effect of these baits builds inside rodents every time they consume the active.
The 'trench ration' was designed to feed a certain number of soldiers. It was used when the food prepared in the field kitchens could be delivered. It included corned beef, sardines, salmon, coffee, salt, sugar and even cigarettes. The 'emergency ration' included highly caloric aliments, such as chocolate.
from the French word boulli, meaning boiled. Meat that is pickled or canned, usually corned beef. « Go back to glossary.
6. Getting to sleep. When able to rest, soldiers in front line trenches would try and shelter from the elements in dugouts. These varied from deep underground shelters to small hollows in the side of trenches – as shown here.
Elsewhere in the world, rat meat is considered diseased and unclean, socially unacceptable, or there are strong religious proscriptions against it. Islam and Kashrut traditions prohibit it, while both the Shipibo people of Peru and Sirionó people of Bolivia have cultural taboos against the eating of rats.
Raw meat is considered a delicious delicacy by many in Ethiopia, despite doctors warning that eating uncooked meat can have serious health implications.
Before they became our companions, they fed on wild plants and small animals on cold, open plains. Farming came relatively late to northern China, but at some point, native brown rats, finding a reliable food supply in their midst, switched to living on farms and in villages.
The stink of war
Stinking mud mingled with rotting corpses, lingering gas, open latrines, wet clothes and unwashed bodies to produce an overpowering stench. The main latrines were located behind the lines, but front-line soldiers had to dig small waste pits in their own trenches.
A group of rats is called a 'mischief'! 2) Rats are mainly nocturnal and live underground. Although they vastly outnumber humans, we rarely see them. They are experts at staying out of sight!
Rats and lice tormented the troops by day and night. Oversized rats, bloated by the food and waste of stationary armies, helped spread disease and were a constant irritant. In 1918, doctors also identified lice as the cause of trench fever, which plagued the troops with headaches, fevers, and muscle pain.