Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-06-01
About Rats

Do rats migrated If they did not we
should never1haYeiseen any of our COM :
mon species. 1t is characteristic of
the family. When they become cruwd-
ed, find their homes inconvenfert or
their supply of food cut of, they move. :.
Our most common rat is the brownur~
Norway rat. paus decapadnHs. :, The old
gray fellows, with scars o.. battle usual
ly looming up prominently on them. are :
of, this species. We are indebted to-
Persia and India for them. Driven
from :seir native land by famine or q
some other local Cause, they migrated
to, Europe in the eighteenth century,
particularly In 1857. when large troops
OF them crossed the sVolga and made
Russia their own. From Russia they
spread all'oser Europe. and Just beforev
the beginning pfsthe Revolutionary war :
they made their, appearance in Ameri-f
ca, having been brought here in ships.
Everywhere they drove out the black,
! or English, rat, MUS r'dtths, before
them. This is also supposed to De of.
Asiatic origin. but its nativity Is not
known certainly. 1t was the house rat
of Europe in very early times. and WAS Z
first noticed in America in 1914. II is
| an inch or two shorter than. the Norway
rat, and is not very common, as is
fierce Scandinavian n cousin makes things
very unpleasant. for it. Is Our common
| house mouse. snsas snssscalsu, + is also a
foreigner, and probably from Asia, as
we'll as the other. two. America boasts
one other of the family from the old
country. This is the roof rat or white
bellied rat, mas tectorNHa. 1t is COM.
mon in Mexico and the Southern States
as far north as North Carolina. 1t is u
native of Egypt, and derives its name.
from infesting the matched roofs of that
country. .'ii-t ara i'H tL"t
Are there any rats native to This
countiy2 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 isthe cotton rat, sigpiod0a his
! pit'tS.,; 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 sizeo
the Norway rat and resembles it consid-
| erably. Its ears are large, however, and
its tail is covered with dense fur. It's
English name is the Rocky Mountain
rat, and scientifically it is neotoma Gin
eTed. 1t dis 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-
terminating burro itself could scarcely
get away with 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 ,carniyals. Candles
are California fruit for them, and they
have often been known to get away
with giant powder when other proyis-
ions were scarce. ait4 .u ar
There is another animal, often spoken
of as '.the mountain rat, y which is COM
mon in this State, and which is not
rat at MI. 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 sixticth 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 dirty yellowish white I'M
derneath. 1t has rounded ears, short
hind legs, and no visible tail. II lives
only in elevated places, forming its
home in loose heaps and slides of rock.
During the day, and especially toward
sunset, it has habit of perching itself
on some prominent piece of rock and ut
tering bleating note. When annoyed
it repeats its note quickly and with a
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,
tdgomys 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 Ordii.
1t is small, only five inches in length,
and is not very common. So mitch foI
Colorado rats. In general there is much
that is interesting about them. There
are anecdotes innumerable about their
| ingenuity, their ierceness, 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 iHindoos, eat Shem, 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 a tail of equal length, and weighs
as much as three pounds. 1t is very
destructive ingardens, and kills chick
ems and ducks. II has been known to
undermine houses with It's burrows.
Theitec ofrats are remarkably strong.
Cases have been known where they have
gnawed ivory. Although living usually
in filthy places, they are clearly in their
persons, and clean themselves by lick
ing, as cat does. When known and
considered fairly, they are not nearly
as bad as is commonly supposed
Denrer Iitbnne. - . '''H'i h3 .4
The Northern Boundary.