24 
BROWN OR NORWAY RAT, 
HABITS. 
The brown rat is unfortunately but too well known almost in every 
portion of our country, and in fact throughout the world, to require an 
elaborate account of its habits, but we will give such particulars as may 
we hope be interesting. It is one of the most prolific and destructive little 
quadrupeds about the residences of man, and is as fierce as voracious. 
Some cases are on record where thi,s rat has attacked a man when he 
was asleep, and we have seen both adults and children who, by their 
wanting a piece of the ear, or a bit of the end of the nose, bore painful 
testimony to its having attacked them while they were in bed ; it has been 
known to nibble at an exposed toe or finger, and sometimes to have bitten 
even the remains of the shrouded dead who may have been exposed to its 
attacks. 
The Norway Rat is very pugnacious, and several individuals may often 
be seen fighting together, squealing, biting, and inflicting severe wounds 
on each other. On one occasion, we saw two of these rats in furious 
combat, and so enraged were they, that one of them whose tail was turned 
towards us, allowed us to seize him, which we did, giving him at the same 
time such a swing against a gate post which was near, that the blow 
killed him instantly — ^his antagonist making his escape. 
During the great floods or freshets which almost annually submerge the 
flat bottom-lands on the Ohio river at various places, the rats are driven 
out from their holes and seek shelter under the barns, stables, and houses 
in the vicinity, and as the increasing waters cover the low grounds, may 
be seen taking to pieces of drift wood and floating logs, &c., on which 
they sometimes remain driving along with the currents for some distance. 
They also at such times climb up into the lofts of barns, smokehouses, &c., 
or betake themselves to the trees in the orchards or gardens. We once, 
at Shipping-port, near the foot of the falls of the Ohio river, whilst residing 
with our brother-in-law, the late N. Berthoud, went out in a skiff, during 
a freshet which had exceeded those of many previous years in its altitude, 
and after rowing about over the tops of fences that were secured from 
rising with the waters by being anchored by large cross-timbers placed 
when they were put up, under the ground, to which the posts were dove- 
tailed, and occasionally rowing through floating worm-fences which had 
broken away from their proper locations and were lying flat ujion the sur- 
face of the flowing tide, we came to the orchard attached to the garden, 
and found the peach and apple trees full of rats, which seemeu almost as 
active in running among the branches as squirrels. We had our gun with 
