and in some countries causes a great mortality through 

 its spreading of bubonic plague, tuberculosis, parasitic 

 worms, typhoid and other maladies. 



It is a vicious creature and can inflict severe injur- 

 ies. It nests in sewers, mines, and in the habitations of 

 man. Sometimes it burrows in the ground and its bur- 

 rowing has been known to reduce the strength of build- 

 ing foundations. 



It lines its nest with rags, cotton or any other soft 

 material which it can find or steal. It is normally a 

 grayish-brown color on the upper part of its body and 

 a grayish white below. Its ears and eyes are large and 

 its tail is as long as the head and body. The tail is 

 almost naked, and the rings of overlapping scales are 

 quite visible. It is about fifteen inches long when full 

 grown. The snout is long, pointed and bare at the end. 



Black Rat 



Rattus rattus rattus 



The black rat was probably introduced before 

 the common brown rat but its numbers have been con- 

 siderably reduced by the latter. In fact, the black rat 

 has been completely exterminated in some sections by 

 the brown rat. There is some claim that in Pennsyl- 

 vania the black rat has been completely eliminated 

 from the fauna but this is entirely erroneous. 



One evening a friend and I, while walking along 

 a street in a Westmoreland County town, noticed a rat 

 in the window of a well-kept meat and delicatessen 

 shop. Stopping to examine it, we were surprised to 

 find that it was unmistakably the black rat. Since that 

 time I have seen it in three other localities. The black 

 rat is smaller than the Norway or brown rat, and on 



->5>C 142 ><«'- 



