The Brown Rat 227
Recently I heard of Rats breaking through the floor of a seedsman’s shop in
Perth and carrying off no less than 280/. worth of tulip and hyacinth bulbs.
These were all removed one by one through a single hole and borne away underground,
where they were carefully stored for future consumption. In arriving at
their object Rats use their chisel-like teeth with great effect, and I have seen a
two-inch-thick lead pipe gnawed through by them.
Besides field and town Rats there is another great race of these rodents
which lives exclusively by the sea and on the islands off our coasts, frequenting
rocks above high-water mark and creating havoc amongst the eggs and young
birds of various species; They also catch prawns and shrimps in the pools left
by the tide. Their favourite food, however, in some localities is shell-fish, sand-
hoppers, Crustacea, dead fish, and the flotsam and jetsam of the sea. Mr. Dorrien-
Smith tells me that his family often kill as many as fifty or sixty in an afternoon
on the Scilly Islands by turning over the rocks and using terriers. I have
seen great numbers on the west coast of North Uist. They doubtless swim
considerable distances to reach islands, and whenever food becomes scarce they
emigrate in a body, if the distance to the mainland or next islet is not too great,
otherwise they perish, or wait for the next ship. In Shetland they even take the
eggs of the lesser black-backed gulls, but must commit such depredations at night.
Rats often kill full-grown ducks and poultry, and are agile enough to catch a
sparrow occasionally. The following instance of this is interesting, as it also
exhibits the animal’s courage:
‘ A few days ago some ladies were feeding the sparrows in Kensington
Gardens. The birds were, as usual, very tame, and one or two of them were
even bold enough to take crumbs from off a lady’s boot. Whilst they were
picking up the food several Rats made their appearance in the border of the
shrubbery, and one of these suddenly made a rush at a group of sparrows, seized
one in its jaws, and disappeared with it in the plantation.’ 1
Mr. L. Adams says that they catch toads near ponds, and that he has seen
scores of these batrachians mangled by Rats near a pond at Snelston in
Northamptonshire. They will even chase hares and rabbits.2 A propos of the
manner in which Rats and rabbits destroy turnips Mr. R. M. Barrington writes : 8
‘ I f a turnip is growing, and a portion of the bulb is still in the ground, a
1 E. J. C.', Meld, July 2, 1904.
2 Mr. H. Godman tells me that one evening at Muntham, Sussex, whilst waiting for Rats near a pond he saw a full-grown
Rat emerge from a hole and pounce upon something in the grass. He then shot the Rat, which held in its mouth a field
vole whose back it had broken in two places. 3 Zoologist, 1878, p. 178.