Vermin of the Farm. 
209 
They also take pond-snails. The leaves of water-lilies may 
sometimes be seen covered with fragments of snail shells 
interspersed with rats’ dung. This is the work of the brown 
rat, and not the water-vole. 
A more unusual divergence of habit in the rat is its occa- 
sional indulgence in fishing. Its fondness for fish is, of course, 
well known to sea fishermen and fish merchants ; but perhaps 
few people are aware that it will catch young eels and bring 
them ashore like an otter. Here is the statement of an eye- 
witness of such a feat, Mr. James Hardy, of Gateshead-on- 
Tyne 
“ On February 24, taking a walk with a companion, as we went along the 
side of the mill race at Swalwell, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, we noticed a 
common house-rat making its way close by the edge of the water among 
the coarse stones that formed the embankment. Curious to know what it 
could be doing there, we watched its progress downwards, until it reached 
the outlet of a drain, into which it had just turned, when it gave a sudden 
plunge, and as quickly reappeared in the stream with a middling-sized eel 
in its mouth. It made for the edge, where it soon regained its footing ; and 
this, from the steepness of the bank, was a matter of difficulty, which was 
much increased by the eel, which it had seized a little above the tail, and 
was struggling vigorously to get free. The desperate efforts of the eel 
rendered his footing so precarious, that, rather than have a plunge for 
nothing, he was reluctantly obliged to drop it into the water. His first action 
afterwards was to give himself a good shake, both to revive his spirits and 
to rid his coat from the effects of his morning dip ; and then, as before, he 
resumed his ‘ contemplative recreation.’ ” 
Eats swim well, and not only think nothing of crossing any 
water which comes in their way when migrating, but during 
the summer months, when numbers quit the villages and farm- 
buildings to live an open-air life until the coldweather drives them 
back again, they may often be seen about the banks of streams, 
into which they will plunge without hesitation if suddenly 
alarmed. But if prevented from landing when swimming they 
soon get exhausted and drowned. Now and then, when cross- 
ing water in the winter time, they get caught by the too rapid 
formation of ice.* 
About ten years ago (1881), when the dry dock inside the old 
pier at Penzance was in course of construction, it was remarked 
that the pier, being hollow-built, was full of rats. As the ground 
was being prepared, the receding tide left shallow pools full of 
small prawns, and the rats were seen catching these with great 
dexterity. 
These instances will serve to show the very varied nature of 
the rat’s food, and the extensive character of its depredations. 
Zoologist, 1861, p. 7376, 
