Michigan Bids Farewell To Its Rat Bounty Law After 85 Years

From rat hunters to modern lawmakers, this story reveals how we’ve evolved past some strange laws. You won’t want to miss the details.

May 19th, 2000, was a day of celebration in the rat community.  Remy and Splinter can finally rest easy with the bounty off their tails. I hope their families are celebrating over a cheese block.  Why?  Because that is the day that Michigan repealed 'The Rat Bounty Law of 1915.'  The law was technically called The Public Act 50 of 1950.  This is an excerpt of that law, according to  American Greatness.

There were rules you had to follow to collect your dimes for rat heads.  For example, you couldn't just show up with one rat head.  Ain't nobody got time for that.  To receive a bounty, you must present a bundle of at least 5 rat heads.

Talk about a rat race.  These people were out here chasing dimes.  Turns out, the real cheese wasn’t in the trap; it was at the township clerk’s office.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Michigan State Law Revision Task Force began revising outdated laws, such as the rat bounty act.  Nobody wants their homes or businesses to be overrun by rats.  So, why repeal this law?  Imagine working in a local government building on a day somebody shows up with a bunch of rat heads and demands his bounty.  Not to mention, rodents simply are not the problem that they were 100 years ago.

I guess back in the day it paid to be a rat, on rats. I'll show myself out.