276 ANIMALS AT WORK AND PL A * 



across in swarms, notwithstanding that the channel 

 between the island and the Lincolnshire coast is at 

 least 500 yards wide. Their c footings ' have been 

 observed on the foreshore, and their location in fields 

 hard by is certain. The farmers are, however, almost 

 helpless to check them, since they shun the stack- 

 yards and granaries. In fact, the rat of Reed's Island 

 appears to be a rodent of an altogether different 

 kind to the common rat with which we are familiar. 

 He has a tail and hindquarters like ^the latter, but 

 his head and ears are more like those of a cavy, 

 while he has a soft furry skin of a rich tawny hue. 

 It is said that in some places this kind of rat is 

 bred in captivity for the sake of their rich skins, 

 which are a marketable commodity. Who knows, 

 then, but what the rat plague of Reed's Island will 

 not turn out the ill wind that will blow the com- 

 missioners good? A rat farm with such furry- 

 skinned inhabitants might prove a little gold mine 

 to them if it were only exploited.' 



The rats of Reed's Island were, as the Eastern 

 Morning News surmised, not grey rats, but 

 water rats, or water voles, and one probable 

 cause of their extraordinary increase was that this 

 island, and another near it, had recently been 

 overgrown with a dense crop of some succulent 



