228 GNAWING ANIMALS 



Brown Rat is the manner in which it has made war upon 

 the black species, which it has practically exterminated in 

 England and many parts of the Continent. 



The Brown Rat is two inches longer, and is of heavier 

 build than its black relative ; its muzzle is blunter, ears 

 smaller, and tail shorter than the head and body. In colour 

 it is greyish-brown, but the shade varies considerably. 



The chief character of the Brown Rat is undoubtedly its 

 astonishing voracity. There is no human food that it will 

 not eat greedily. Provisions of all kinds are ruined, ricks 

 and grain-stores are looted, hen-roosts are robbed of their 

 eggs and young chicks, and rabbit warrens of their young. 

 In the summer the pertinacious Rodent will betake itself 

 to the fields, making its home in the hedge-banks, from 

 which it issues to prey upon the contents of birds' nests, 

 and almost anything that creeps or crawls that is smaller 

 than itself. It frequently takes up its quarters in a river- 

 bank, where it will contrive to catch fish. In such a situa- 

 tion the Brown Rat is frequently mistaken for the Water 

 Rat, or Water Vole as it is more properly called. 



The Brown Rat is wonderfully prolific, the female pro- 

 ducing litters of from eight to ten young ones several times 

 a year ; and a young female will commence breeding by 

 the time that it is half-grown. It is easy to understand 

 how these Rodents may speedily become a pest in any 

 locality they particularly favour. They excavate with a 

 persistence that often endangers the foundations of build- 

 ings ; they burrow through river and canal dams, often 

 resulting in immense damage ; they infest the holds of 

 ships, and in a variety of ways they contrive to effect 

 endless mischief. 



Although the animal is omnivorous, it displays a prefer- 

 ence for animal food. In large towns the sewers are infested 

 by hordes of rats, which devour the animal offal and refuse, 

 and in this respect do good service in their office as scaven- 

 gers. But the creatures do not restrict themselves to offal ; 

 if they can effect an entrance into a butcher's store they will 

 not only attack the meat, but will confine themselves to the 

 best joints. It has frequently occurred that, from a ship, 

 Brown Rats have obtained entry into an island, where 



