Thus it appears evident that rats do not cluster round these outbreaks for the purposes of peace, but to gratify a carnivorous appetite for hot blood; and that they will greedily indulge this gloating propensity, whenever an opportunity offers, with any of the smaller animals as well as their own species.
There is a notion abroad that rats, when caught in a trap by the foot or leg, will sometimes escape by gnawing away the limb above the trap. This I believe to be perfectly erroneous, and I am supported in my opinion by a gentleman, where, speaking of the rats of Shropshire, he says: “So savage and voracious are the common Norway rats, that often and often, when one of these gentry is caught in a trap, the others attack and eat him up; and frequently the keepers find from ten to twenty rats caught in the rabbit-traps during the night, though set far away from ricks or buildings of any kind; and perhaps two-thirds of them before morning would be eaten by these cannibals of the worst kind; for,” he says, “they do not wait even to kill their brother rats in trouble before they feast upon them.”
One evening I called upon an acquaintance of mine to obtain some particular information, and found him just going to decide a wager respecting a large male ferret of the polecat breed, which was to destroy fifty rats within the hour. It must be borne in mind that this ferret was trained for the purpose. The rats were placed in a large square space measuring eight or ten feet from corner to corner. The ferret was put in, and it was astonishing to see the systematic way in which he set about his work. Some of the larger rats were very great cowards, and surrendered with scarcely a struggle; while some of the smaller, or three-parts-grown ones, fought most desperately. One of these drew my particular attention. The ferret, in making his attacks, was beaten off several times, to his great discomfiture; for the rat bit him most severely. At last the ferret bustled the fight and succeeded in getting the rat upon its back, with one of his feet upon the lower part of its belly. In this position they remained for some minutes, with their heads close to each other, and their mouths wide open. The ferret was rather exhausted with his former conflicts, and every move he made the rat bit him. At last he lost his temper, and making one desperate effort, he succeeded in getting the rat within his deadly grasp. He threw himself upon his side, and, cuddling the rat close to him, he fixed his teeth in its neck. While thus engaged, a rat was running carelessly about; all at once, when near the ferret, it threw up its head, as if a new idea had struck it; it retreated till it met with another, and it was astonishing to see the instantaneous effect produced in the second. Off they ran together to the corner where the ferret lay. The fact was, they scented the blood of either the rat or ferret, which in both was running in profusion. Without any further ceremony they seized the ferret fast by the crown of the head, and drew themselves up for a comfortable suck of warm blood. The ferret, feeling the smart, thought it was his old opponent that was struggling in his grasp, and bit his lifeless victim most furiously. Presently he let go the dead rat, and seemed astounded at the audacity of the others. He began to struggle, and they seemed quite offended at being disturbed at their repast. He very soon, however, succeeded in catching hold of one of them, and the other ran away, but only for a few seconds. The ferret demolished the whole fifty considerably under the hour. Nevertheless, two facts were established beyond a doubt—first, that rats are perfectly carnivorous; and, secondly, that they delight in sucking hot blood.
Having thus given some accounts of the worst propensities of rats, it is but fair to present some authenticated facts, as well as my own personal observation, in confirmation of their better qualities.
Mr. Bell quotes a case of fraternal affection among rats from Mr. Jesse. A gentleman was walking out in the meadows one evening, and observed a number of rats in the act of migrating from one place to another, which it is well known they are in the habit of doing occasionally. He stood perfectly still while the whole assembly passed close to him. His astonishment, however, was great when he saw an old blind rat, which held a piece of stick at one end in its mouth, while another rat had hold of the other end of it, and thus conducted its blind companion. He also says that it is very evident, from several instances, that the rat is not insensible to kindness, and that it may be powerfully attached to those who feed and caress it.
The Rev. W. Cotton gives an instance of fidelity among rats:—“On a bright moonlight evening, we discovered two rats on the plank coming into the ship. The foremost was leading the other by a straw—one end of which each held in its mouth. We managed to capture them both, and found, to our surprise, that the one led by the other was stone blind. His faithful friend was trying to get him on board, where he would have comfortable quarters during a three years’ cruise.”
The maternal affection of rats for their young is not, perhaps, to be surpassed by any other animal; and so far from their being the low, degraded, dirty, ignoble creatures that many imagine them to be, they are, on the contrary, perfectly aristocratic in their habits and notions. Sir W. Jardine says: “The rat is a very cleanly animal; for even when its residence is in a ditch, or sewer, in the midst of all sorts of filth, it almost invariably preserves itself from pollution; and in parts remote from towns its fur is often possessed of considerable beauty. Although, on account of the injury it inflicts upon us, and the abhorrence with which in childhood we are taught to regard it, few persons will be apt to discover much beauty in a rat; nevertheless, any one who has taken notice of rats, can bear testimony to the fact, that in all their leisure time they are constantly sitting on end cleaning their fur, and seem perfectly restless and unhappy till their jackets are dry and clean, and arranged in proper order.”
In the spring the rats leave their winter establishments, and mostly repair to some watering-place to spend the summer months. Here the mother teaches her young the recreations of swimming, fishing, and hunting.
But in their more infantine days she is one of the kindest of nurses, eternally washing their little faces, backs, bellies, legs, and feet, by rolling them from side to side, and licking them over with all the tenderness and solicitude of any other mother. But if an enemy intrudes, she will protect them with all the vicious determination of a tigress, and if she does not succeed in beating him off, she will relinquish the contest only with her life. So, if the old rat should call, who in some cases is a barbarous old brute, she will show him her teeth, and squinny at him till he decamps; but, should she be from home, the infanticidal old cannibal will sometimes eat up her children, and then walk doggedly to his retreat, and lay himself down most tranquilly to digest them.
Two men in a boat were gathering rushes on the borders of the Avon, when a water-rat entered the boat, arranged some of the rushes, and gave birth to seven young ones, which the men at once destroyed. The rat immediately set up such piteous cries, that they endeavoured to drive her from the boat, but she would not go; so they killed her also.
Doubtless she sought this asylum to save her young from the jaws of the old tyrant, and so lost her own life, which says but little for her destroyers, where, from first to last, such a confiding appeal was made to their humanity. But let it be borne in mind that the male rat is not the only animal that will devour the young of its own species. Pigs, both male and female, will sometimes do it; as also tomcats and rabbits. But, in a wild state, the doe rabbit always goes a considerable distance from the main burrows, where the buck is not likely to travel. Here she makes a hole some two feet long, and deposits her young, which, when she leaves to go abroad for food, she always covers the entrance close up with earth, so that the buck is not likely to find them in her absence. As to boar-pigs, it is well known that if they come across a litter of young pigs, and the opportunity offers, they will chump them up like sweetmeats. Consequently the male rat, however disgusting, must not be individually condemned for murder and cannibalism.
A writer in the