The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1874-01-09
OF RITES.

Many instances have been recorded of
the display of intelligence by rats, to which
we beg leave to add the following:
A farmers wife in the west of Scotland
remarked that the cream on the surface of
the milk in her dairy was often interfered
with. At first, she suspected that some of
hei children had taken the unwarrantabIe
liberty of dipping pieces of bread i'll it, but
she had nothing to confirm this suspicion;
and, by-aud-by, she noticed strange little
streakS of cream on the edges of the milk
basins, as if a string had been dipped in
and draws out, so as to leave mark. AT
last she discovered the secret. The cream
was stolen by rats, which got upon the
e1Ves of the earthcnware basins containing
the milk, and not being able to reach
down to it. depth of several inches, nor
daring to go down, as they could never
have climbed up t he smooth surface again,
dipped in the tips of their long tails, drew
them up loaded with the rich cream, and
then licked them. An arrangement 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 moro than instinct
in this case in the procedure of the rats.
We have something still to tell of the
ingenuity of rats. A family in a country
house in Hertfordshine had a fancy for
rearing ducks, but could not well do SO on
account of rats, which Systematically got
hold of and carried away the young duck
lings, even from close to their mother.
With view to circumvent the rats, the
maternal duck and her young were housed
for the night under a coop, which admit
ted of no opening for tie furtiVe intruders.
The rats were not to be so easily cheated
out of their pray. On discovering that the
mother duck and her family were closely
shrouded from intrusion, they devised
pretty plan of engineering, which was en-
inently successful. In the course of sin
gle night they excavated a tunnel going
below the outer edge of the coop to its III
terror, and thus very neatly, without pro-
ducing any alarm, stole every duckling
under the guardianship of the mother.
Two rats of the same colony performed
q feat quite as ingenious. y trap which
was baited for their capture was habitual-
ly plundered without securing a single rat.
They had evidently invented some plan for
safely stealing away the bait, and what the
plan was, could only be learned by setting
"A watch on the trap. We shall explain
how the theft was effected. The trap was
of the kind which is some times employed
tOr catching mice. 1t was a box with
sliding door, which was sustained by me-
chanISUn connected with the bait. . the
bait being nibbled at, the door descends
and makes the mouse a prisoner. The
two rats saw through the device and re-
sorted TO the following very simple but ef-
lectuol method to take away the cheese,
and yet escape imprisonment One of
them placed itself under the door, so that
it might fall on its 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 in
t.Higence, like the preceding incident, is
of recent occurrence.