RATS AND MICE FAMILY 



The common Rat is an " introduced " guest, 

 as its other name " Norway " indicates, and has 

 somewhat overstayed its welcome. It was 

 brought over to America in some of the earliest 

 ships, and thus may trace its lineage not only to 

 the Mayflower, but perhaps even further to the 

 voyages of the Norsemen. Evidence shows that 

 it reached our shores both by way of the Atlantic 

 and the Pacific. 



There are three related species that have been 

 thus introduced. One of the first to come was 

 the Black Rat and also at an early time, the 

 Roof Rat. However, with the advent of the 

 Norway Rat, both the others were driven out, 

 and today are found only in out-of-the-way 

 places not yet settled by the Norway Rat. 



These introduced Rats may be readily told 

 from our native Rats by their general appear- 

 ance, such as the scaly, ringed tail and the color- 

 ation above described. 



The Norway Rat is perhaps the most detested 

 of all mammals. It is a born thief ; it feeds on 

 nearlv every kind of vegetable or animal food. 

 It will kill poultry and devour eggs; it will 

 ravage grain fields and carry off to its hole grain, 

 potatoes, vegetables and similar spoil. Its power- 

 ful teeth enable it to gnaw through stout boards 

 and partitions in a very short time. The writer 

 has seen a lead pipe that was gnawed through 

 by these Rats, causing an escape of gas which 

 led to a serious explosion. 



The peculiarity of this Rat is that it is de- 

 structive everywhere. In the fields it digs the 

 seed as soon as it is sown ; it eats the green 

 growing grain ; and when the crop is harvested 

 it follows it into the stack, the granary, the ware- 

 house, and the mill. In the greenhouse it attacks 

 the bulbs, stems, leaves, and seeds of flowers ; 

 it will climb blackberry canes and grape-vines 

 to obtain the fruit ; and in imperfectly protected 

 hen houses it will take both eggs and young 

 chicks from under sitting hens. That many of 

 these depredations are not prompted by need of 

 food is evident. 



In this connection an experience of the present 

 writer may be of interest. On the occasion of 

 moving into a house in Montclair, New Jersey, 

 toward the end of April, a few years ago, the 

 furniture vans, coming from a distance, did not 

 arrive in time for the books to be placed on the 

 library shelves. The books were therefore placed 

 for the night on the floor of an empty upper 

 room. In the morning it was found that during 

 the night a Rat, or Rats, had entered the room 

 and attacked a number of volumes which had 

 leather backs. No books with bindings other 



than leather were touched. Now the weather 

 was mild and spring-like, and there was nothing 

 to suggest that food was scarce. Why did the 

 Rat attack these particular books? It should 

 be mentioned that the meal ap])arently was too 

 much for the intruding rodent, for during a long 

 occupancy of the house it was never heard or 

 seen again. Also, in justice to the authors we 

 shall not mention the titles of the volumes ! 



Ernest Ingersoll states that Rats " often gnaw 

 the hoofs of horses until the feet bleed. They 

 have been known to kill young lambs and pigs, 



Photograph by H. T. Middkton 



AN UNWaLING POSE 



A flashlight, in which the Rat itself may be seen pulling the 

 trigger 



and to attack very fat hogs and eat holes in 

 their bodies, causing death. Farrowing sows 

 have been killed by Rats gnawing their teats 

 until blood poisoning resulted." A prominent 

 American broker bears today the mark where a 

 Rat bit him on the nose when he was an infant 

 and asleep. Since the introduction of lighting by 

 electricity, there have been numbers of fires 

 caused by Rats gnawing the insulation. 



The Brown Rat is very prolific. It begins to 

 breed when very young, has several litters a 

 year, and produces eight to fourteen young at a 

 birth. 



Extremes of temperature do not seem to bother 

 this rodent. Mr. Wilfred H. Osgood in his 

 " Natural History of the Cook Inlet Region, 

 Alaska," states that " a few Norway Rats have 



