Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1883-05-31

ASlattC origin, OUT It's NATIVITY Is not
known certainly. 1t was the house rat
of Europe in very early times, and was
first noticed in America in 1914. It is
an inch or two shorter than the Norway
rat, and is not very common, as its
fierce Scandinavian cousin makes THINGS
very unpleasant for it. Our common
house mouse, mus musculsu, is also a
foreigner, and probably from Asia as
well as the other two. America boasts
one other of the family from the old
country. This is the roof rat, or white
bellied rat, mus tectorum. 1t is COM
mon in Mexico and the Southern States
as far north as North Carolina. 1t is a
native of Egypt, and derives its name
from infesting the matched roofs of that
country.
Are there any rats native to this
country? Certainly. The woods are
full of them. They are not often seen
about houses and never in cities. There
are some sixty or more species of them,
rats and mice together, of which about
ten species are entitled to be called rats.
from their size Most of them belong
to the Southern States. One well-known
species is the cotton rat, sigmodon his
pidls. 1t gets its name from its habit
of lining its nest with cotton. 1t is not
destructive, and does but little damage.
In Colorado the most common native
rat is found in the wooded sections OF
the mountains. 1t is about the size OF
the Norway rat and resembles it consid-
erably. Its ears are large, however, and
its tail is covered with dense fur Its
English name is the Rocky Mountain
rat, and scientifically it is neotoma Gin
ered. 1t is strong, active and pugna-
cious, and with its appetite there are
few prospectors who are not acquainted.
Like most of the other members of the
family, it is omnivorous. The indis-
eliminating burro itself could scarcely
get away with a larger quantity or great
er variety of food than do these ami
mails. Among other edibles the writer
remembers with pain of contributing
two pairs of buckskin and one of dog
skin gloves to their carnivals. Candles
are California fruit for them, and they
have often been known to get away
with giant powder when other provis-
ions were scarce.
There is another animal, often spoken
of as 1.-THE mountain rat, - which is coEa-
mon in this State, and which is not a
rat at all. 1t is found in America only
in the Rocky Mountains, from Colorado
northward. Its habitat is given in the
books as being between the forty-second
and sixtieth degrees of north latitude,
but the writer has seen hundreds of
them in this State, and as far south as
the thirty-eighth parallel. 1t is from
seven to nine inches in length; is gray
ish above, penciled with black and yell
lOwish white, yellowish brown on the
sides, and a dirty yellowish white I'm
derneath. 1t has rounded ears, short
hind legs, and no visible tail. 1t lives
only in elevated places, forming its
home in loose heaps and slides of rock.
During the day, and especially toward
sunset, it has a habit of perching itself
on some prominent piece of rock and ut
tering blcating note. When annoyed
it repeats its note quickly and with
querulous accent. 1t is wholly herbivo-
rous and belongs in the rabbit family.
1t is properly known as the Rocky
Mountain. pika or Little Chief hare,
ldgOmys princeps. The miners some
times call them comics and sometimes
mountain rats. The animal may be
definitely placed by its teeth. 1t has
five molars, above and below, on each
side. None of the rats proper have
more than three.
There is only one other rat native OF
this State that is worthy of notice, and
it is the kangaroo-rat, dipodomys O,ylii.
1t is small, only five inches in length,
and is not very common. So much for
Colorado rats In general there is much
that is interesting about them. There
are anecdotes innumerablc about their
ingenuity, their fercenesS, and other
qualities, but they can not be noticed
here. Besides it is almost impossible to
tell which of them are true and which
are false. The Chinese and other
Asiatic peoples, particularly the lower
caste Hindoos, eat them, as do also
many of the African tribes. Their
skins are used in the manufactures of
delicate articles, especially for the
thumbs of Partisan kid gloves. The
largest known rat is native of India.
1t attains a length of thirteen inches,
with tail of equal length, and weighs
as much as three pounds. 1t is very
destructive in gardens, and kills chick
ems and ducks. 1t has been known to
houses with it's burrows.
The teeth of rats are remarkably strong.
Cases have been known where they have
gnawed ivory. Although living usually
in filthy places. they are cleanlv in their
persons, and clean themselves by lick
ing, as a cat does. When known and
considered fairly, they are not nearly
as bad as is commonly supposed
Dcnrcr Tribune.