Are rats really all that bad?
THERE has been a lot of chatter about rats on social media this week, with people defending these misunderstood creatures.
Many folk are scared of spiders and mice, some are scared of bees and wasps, but a large percentage of the population don’t like rats one little bit.
The main problem is that we are told that rats carry horrible diseases, specifically Weil’s disease or leptospirosis, which has some nasty symptoms.
This is rare in the UK and while it comes from rat pee, the bacteria can also be spread by mice, cows, pigs and dogs.
Millions of people have been swimming in North West rivers, canals and lakes and haven’t caught this disease.
Rats were also blamed for the killing of millions of people during the Great Plague but scientists are saying that it was all down to a flea they were carrying, brought into Europe by camels.
Should we be blaming the fleas?
Rats tend to be very clean creatures.
The other problem with rats is that there are so many of them – female rats can have five litters a year, with 12 young in each litter.
So people tell me they are everywhere.
So let’s balance things a bit.
I am not going to join the ‘all animals are equal’ brigade, who have been very vocal on Twitter, but rats are pretty good, you know?
We get garden visits every so often, on or under our bird table.
These visitors certainly keep the local cats on their toes and vice versa...our dog can’t keep up.
Rats are incredibly adaptable and would make great Olympians, being able to swim quite fast and climb up pretty much anything.
It is great to watch them climb up a bird table, quickly working out how to get over a number of barriers.
The birds tend to leave lots of seed, so the rats clean up.
If you live in a city, a lot of food waste will be eaten by rats and pigeons, so we aren’t knee-deep in fast food leftovers.
They eat fruit and seeds, human food waste, insects, birds’ eggs or even small mammals.
In many countries rats are seen as a good thing; the Romans thought they were lucky and the Egyptians worshipped them. Some religions still treat them with a great deal of respect.
If you were born in the Chinese Year of the Rat, I missed 1960 by one year, you are clever, quick witted and curious.
Rats love sheds and decking because it adds to the shelter of the burrows they dig underneath.
They live in loose colonies.
The brown rat has grey-brown fur, a pointed nose, large, bare ears and a long, scaly tail.
It is much bigger than any mouse species.
Getting close up, they are actually quite lovely looking creatures and some people have fancy rats as pets.
It is amazing that there is so much animosity about these creatures.
If I remember rightly, Roland Rat was very popular and cuddly.
Of course, rats getting into your home would be a problem.
But generally we should look at them in a much kinder way and appreciate that they are useful, skilful and really amazing mammals.