But doesn't this look like somebody looking for rats?
Well I agree Chateau........I dont know why anyone would have a stick in their hand on a cotton grading table unless they were expecting "something" to run out of the pile. It is not as if the raw cotton is going to attack them. Plus it looks like the short dude is "herding" something toward the tall dude. The tall dude is ready to hit something coming out of the pile of cotton.
To put things clear about this, below are the caps from the whole sequence of the two guys and the cotton task. The tall guy is not waiting
to hit something coming out of the pile, actually
he is hitting the cotton. Maybe trying to spice things, in order to provoke a reaction, but he's not definitely expecting something.
(BTW, CBS press info says teams must collect "dead rats" not alive - see Prama reply #58 on this thread -)