The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1888-12-21
RATS AND MICE.
CURIOUS FACTS CONCERNING
THESE RODENTS.
Habits of the Mouse-Its Love for
Music The Black and the
Brown Rats-HOw TO Get
Rid of Rats

DTONn nuts AlDh u ~
Rid of Rats
Rats and mice derive their name ''ro-
dent from the peculiar structure Of
their teeth, which are especially fitted
for gnawing. Their Jaws are heavily
made and very large in proportion to
the head, this size being needful for the
support of their gnawing teeth and their
continual development Their chisel-
like front teeth pass deeply into the Jaw
bone and they are continually nourished
by kind Of pulpy substance from which
the tooth is 70 med and which adds
fresh material in proportion to the daily
waste. The covering enamel OF the front
face Of the incisor teeth is much harder
than that which IS laid upon she back
part Of the teeth. As the enamel and
dentine of the softer part wears away
much faster than the harder front sur
face, the peculiar ch!sel-edge structure IS
continually preserved. When one OF
these teeth Is broken, or the animal IS so
confined as to be prevented from using
his sharp edged tools, the sufferer dies, as
the growth of the teeth is continual, and
they push forward TO enormous lengths,
sometimes forming a complete circle.
This malformation IS tOlerably frequent
The family "Muride." TO which the
mice and rats belong, has thirty-seven
genera, with $50 species. They are all
found in parts OF the Old World, but are
not natives of America. There is spall
animal, resembling nuGso, w-+.-
exclusively American. This family has
eighty or morespecies. The little meadow
mouse is an example The only rodent
common to both europe and America is
the beaver, which Is not regarded as the
same in both countries; and the squ!r-
rels are considered the highest form Of
the gnawing animals. Our domestic
mic are foreigners, introduced by our
foreiathcrs. OF the genus Mus OF
mouse, there are 100 species, all natives
of the Old World. They have three
simple molar teeth in each Jaw, their fore
fee; have four toes and a rudimentary
thumb; the hind feet have five tees. tae
feet can be turned outward and the claws
hitched upon any convenient pro ection
when descending a wall The common
mouse readily colonies every region,
arctic, temrcrate or tropical.
The jumping mice, or jerboas, are ma
tives Of the Mediterranean region. Their
usual Jump is ten or twelve feet They
think nothing Of jumping the width Of
good sized room at one spring. They
do not always leap about. When they
are not startled or in 4 hurry they run on
all four feet, and when they make their
winter homes fu down in the warm
earth they dig a long passage till safe
from the hard 0sts that freeze the
ground, and there they make comfort
able. warm, snug nest, roll themselves
into balls, wrap their long tails around
them, and 20 to sleep for the winter. I.
is specially interesting to know that
when a mother mouse is frightened and
vans TO hide with her children, she
takes great leaps, with her babies hang
ing fast to her sides. No matter how
long her jumps, or how far she goes,
every little mouse holds on like grim
death" till safe hiding place is found
and she can rest.
Perhaps the most amusing power the
mouse has is his ability to sing. They
show a strong love for music, aud
power Of initiating the song Of bird
There has been great deal written on
their singing powers, and it is discussed
whether they really do possess this fac
ulty, or whether IL is merely the conse-
quences of throat disease. The field
mouse sings like the cricket. I read Of
q savoy little mouse who built his home
I'D. settina hsn,s rest aud -nihhsd
the feathers off the tai Of the patient Old r
hen TO make feather beds for her chill
dren.
The field mouse is said TO have a great
10 either the cat or brown rat,
and will leave house whenever they
appear
'Ehe black and brown rat are particu-
larly deserving of notice, and are the
most widely distributed over the world
They both appear to be natives of the
central part Of Asia. The brown rat
found its way to Europe in the beginning
Of the eighteenth century, and reached
Britain aud the western countries of
Europe about the middle OF that epoch. .
They are sometimes enormously called
the Norway rat.
The brown rat is larger and more /
powerful than the black rat, and they are I
deadly foes. The brown rat mas sue I
ceeded in causing an almost total disap- /
pearance of the black rat in places where .
il was very numerous. According to
Mr.. Eodewel's theory the manner in
which the brown rat has supplan,ed its
black foe is by love instead of war. The
browns, being the stronger, carry off the .
females OF the blacks by force, and thus
he accounts for the curious kind of
particolored offspring which may be
found in France. These rats infest ships.
and so are carried to the NEST distant
parts Of the world, some Of them getting
ashore at every port and establishing
new colonies The black rat is nearly
seven inches long and the brown grows
to be ten inches, with a tail eight inches
long. Both species are extremely prolific,
from ten 10 fourteen at a birth.
" hen they are pressed by hunger theg
DO not hesitate to devour the weaker Of
their kind.
The rats never-failing appetite Is
useful in devouring animal
and vegetable substances the putrefac-
lion OF which would otherwise be pro-
iuctive of pestilence 1t is said that the
visits Of the plague to Western Europe .
and Britain have ceased from the time .
when rats became plentiful. Wood gives
Us the suggestion for stopping up their
tunnels, when they are making them
selves a nuisance, as follows: "Fill the
rate hole with mortar or cement, well .
studded with pieces Of broken siqss. -
And he advises to place II few table
of quicklime IN the hole before
/ is stopped up" as lime burns their
'eet.
Their sense Of smell is very acute, so
much so that ratcatchers are careful to
glove their hands when setting heir
.raps The professional ratcatcher in
England wears brass image Of a rat as
/ sign of his business The ways and
means OF catching them are a professional
secret. They procure them alive and sell
hem to raf-pii keepers. These pit keep
Frs have a sort Of hole where they let the
rats loose and dogs are set on them.
Crowds of boys and men pay to see thus
cruel sport. The skin of rats is made .