The Western advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1872-1874, 1874-07-04
Ingenuity Of Rats.

A farmers wife in the west of Scot.
land remarked that the cream on the
surface of the milk in her dairy
was often interfered with. At first
she suspected that some of her
children had taken the unwarrant.
able liberty of dipping pieces of bread in
it; but she could find nothing to confirm
this suspicion; and by and by she noticed
strange little streaks of cream on the
! edge of the milk BASIN as if string had
been dipped in and drawn out SO as to
leave u mark. AT last she discovered the
secret. The cream was stolen by rats,
which got upon the edge of the earthen.
ware basins containing the milk, and not
being able to reach down to it, depth OF
several inches, and not daring to attempt
| to go down, as they could never have
climbed up the smooth surface again,
dipped in the tips of their long tails
drew them up loaded with the rich
cream, and licked them. An arrange.
ment of the basins, such that the rats
could not get upon the edges of them,
put an end to all further depredations of
this kind. There was surely something
more than instinct in this case in the pro-
cedure Of the rats
We have something still to tell regard
ing the ingenuity Of rats. A family in a
country house in Hertfordshire had a
fancy for rearing ducks, but could not
well do 50 on account of rats, which sys-
tematically got hold Of and carried away
the young ducklings, even from close to
| their mother. With view to circum-
vent the rats the maternal duck and her
young were housed for the hight under a
coop which admitted of no opening for
the furtive intruders. The rats were not
| easily to be cheated of their prey On
discovering that the mother duck and
her family were shrouded from intrusion
they devised pretty plan of engineer.
ing which was eminently successful. In
the course of a single night they exca-
waited a tunnel, going below the outer
edge OF the coop to its INTERIOR and thus
very neatly, without producing any
!! alarm, stole every duckling from under
the guardiance of the mother.
Two rats belonging to the same colony
performed a feat quite as ingenious. A
trap which was baited for their capture
was habitually plundered without secur
ing single rat. They had evidently in
vented some plan for safely stealing away
the bait, and what the plan was could
only be learned by setting watch on
the trap. We shall explain how the theft
was effected. The trap was of the kind
which is sometimes employed for catch
ing mice. 1t was box with sliding
door which was sustained by mechanism
connected with it, the halt being nibblec
at, the door descends and makes thu
mouse prisoner The rats saw through
the device, and resorted to the following
very simple but etfectual method Of
taking away the bait, which was a piece
Of toasted cheese, and yet escape impris
onment: One of them placed itself under
the door, so that it might fall on it's back
while the other crept in and successfully
carried off the morsel of cheese The
first rat then drew itself from under the
| door and joined its companion. This
demonstration of rat intelligence, like
! the preceding incident, is of recent &C
| currence. Chambers Journal