Texas legislators smell decaying rat
In 1969, a rat died somewhere in the offices of the Texas legislature. This led to the passage of Texas House State Resolution 433:
So what are these brands of rat poison that can make a rat leave the building before it dies? I've never heard of such a thing.
WHEREAS, there are many brands of rat poison on the market today; and
WHEREAS, Some brands of rat poison do cause the rat to leave the building before he dies; and
WHEREAS, The same thing goes for mice; and
WHEREAS, The State of Texas obviously does not use a brand of rat poison that causes rats and mice to leave the building before they die; and
WHEREAS, For the last week and a half, Representatives Jungmichel, Wieting, Ward, McAlister, Allen, Allen of Harris, Jones of Harris, Kubiak, Parker of Jefferson, Cory, Newman, Johnson of Bexar, Kothman, Weldon, Longoria, Ogg and Cummings have unduly suffered mental anguish by having to smell a dead rat; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the heretofore mentioned Representatives hereby go on record as supporting either letting the rats run loose in the Capitol or changing the brand of rat poison.
WHEREAS, Some brands of rat poison do cause the rat to leave the building before he dies; and
WHEREAS, The same thing goes for mice; and
WHEREAS, The State of Texas obviously does not use a brand of rat poison that causes rats and mice to leave the building before they die; and
WHEREAS, For the last week and a half, Representatives Jungmichel, Wieting, Ward, McAlister, Allen, Allen of Harris, Jones of Harris, Kubiak, Parker of Jefferson, Cory, Newman, Johnson of Bexar, Kothman, Weldon, Longoria, Ogg and Cummings have unduly suffered mental anguish by having to smell a dead rat; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the heretofore mentioned Representatives hereby go on record as supporting either letting the rats run loose in the Capitol or changing the brand of rat poison.
So what are these brands of rat poison that can make a rat leave the building before it dies? I've never heard of such a thing.
Comments
I live trapped the rat we had in the house a couple of years ago and humanly turned him loose in the cat infested park just down the street. I know it was human because all the cats around here are to well fed to be bothered with chasing their own lunch.
Anyhow, I didn't have a rat-writ what was rit for a rat.
Anyhow, I didn't have a rat-writ what was rit for a rat.
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 02/28/15 at 09:11 AM
Most of the rat and mice poisons make them very thirsty. They leave the building in search of water and die outside.
Posted by BrokeDad in Midwest US on 02/28/15 at 09:15 AM
My parents lived in the Vermont woods near a lake. They had plenty of field mice, so they used a type of D-Con that made them thirsty before they died, as BrokeDad said.
Posted by Bill the Splut on 02/28/15 at 09:42 AM
Sorry guys, I'm a pest control operator and this is an old wives tale. Rodenticides are, with some exceptions, anticoagulants that cause hemorrhaging, but this does nothing to make rodents leave the building or make them thirsty. Besides, rodents can get most if not all of their water from the food they eat and why would a thirsty rat need to leave a building in order to get water? They don't leave the building, its a myth started by pest control companies to sell more rat poison. A poisoned rodent gets lethargic and dies where ever it dies.
Posted by PestControl on 02/28/15 at 12:31 PM
Just a few years later the Texas Legislature passed a bill rounding pi up to 3.15.
Posted by roadgeek on 02/28/15 at 12:38 PM
They like many state legislative buildings across the country are already populated by low intelligence rats of a two legged variety.
Posted by Gator Guy on 02/28/15 at 08:07 PM
As long as they were attending to important business and not just fooling around.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 02/28/15 at 10:40 PM
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Category: Animals | Government | 1960s