The Portland daily press., 1894-08-02
RATS ARE NOT NATIVE,
They All Emigrated to this Country in the
Early Days.

when the first houses were built in
America there were no rats to inhablt
them. No house rats are native to this
continent. All of the rodents which
infest our dwellings are assisted imml-
grants, fetchedover from Europe IN ships.
We have about twenty species OF rats
that are indigenous to this country, but
not one of them lives in houses. Ihey
do not seek the neigh borhood of man,
as do the foreign species, which may De
regarded as human parasites
The speaker was DR.. G. Hart Merriam,
the well known naturalist. He added
"Our wild rats live in the woods ana
deserts. They differ in their hapl6s ac~
cording to the regions in which tney 'e-
side. Commonly they build over their
nests great piles of rubbish Ior pro-
t.ction against predatory animals. some
times they gather heaps Oh sSohes loi
this nnrnose. The brown footed WOOD
rats of California erect stacks OF brush
and stocks. which are sometimes as
| much as six feet high. Occasionally
these staoks are put up in trees, but Us
uaiIy they are on the ground, leaning
against sapling or placed between Two
| trees. Skunks, badgers and coyotes
| have hard work to dig through such
a chevaux-de-tr
"Tbe desert species often build their
! nests among rocks or they will pile over
] them thorny yucca leaves, cactuses and
| other spiny things. Many of them live
| in caves in the faces of cliffs. Wherever
] In last vn11 will ind
rats. The floor of the cave is covered or
! dinarily with an accumulation of dead
, branches of thorny shrubs aud cactus
| needles. Th,se cactus needles are SO
! sharp, and the punctures made by them
! are SO painful, that one cannot enter
such a cave ON hands and knees without
spreading a piece of canvas or other
/ cloth preliminarily. 1t may be imagined
| what an excellent protection they aIoru
against predacious mammals.
1.-The cactus needles are found by mi IL
/ ions, the collection very likely represent
| ing an accumulation of centuries. Inc
rats live in crevices of the rocks within
/ the caves Their excrement forms a soF6
Of resinous guano which sollolnes III
| masses, It is su distance OF very curious
| appearance; in hot exposures 1t some
/ times triclSles out like melted resin.
Often the deposit of it will be three or
four feet deep, mixed throughout with
cactus spines and rat hair. For long
time nobody could guess what 1t was.
but it's nature, was determined by henry
W. Henshaw, a naturalist, VINO Is no"
attached to the bureau of ethnology.
"These native wild rats range clean
across the United States westward from
Pennsylvania, in which State one species
is found. This species is the biggest 10
the United States, the size of the emma
being as great as that OF the largest
wharf rat. 1t is the nearest surviving
relative of fossil rat that lnIaoltee
caves in America perhaps le0,0o0 year,
ago. The species multiply as you g
southwark. In the north, as far as Hud
son bay, you find the bushy-tailed rats
which have tails like squirrels. The.
are known as pack rats because the.
steal or pack off with every thing the.
can get hold of. One reads great man!
4 stories illustrating the intelligence
rats: but from all accounts these pacl
rats would seem to be the most clever
their tribe. Trappers and campers GU
in that part of the country tell lnnumer
able stories about them. They will stea
knives, forks, spoons-anythlng, III TACT
that is bright and portable-carryin!
; the stolen article TO their nests 20 pla.
with. IT ID alleged that they AWAY
mt something-a bit of wood or wha
pot-in place of the things carried oil
have listened by the hour to tales re
counted by woodsmen of the deviltry 0
these animals-yarns which would seer
to indicate that the four-footed thieve
have a large sense of humor, though
lacking in conscience.
That they are conscientious apou
leaving something in payment for VIVA
they take, however, may be Juage
from one story which ! happen to reca! !!
A hunter who told the yarn to me l
evident good faith, had gone to sleep 10
the night, leaving his knife stuck INTO
log. His dreams were disturbed D
$ noises which he could not account 1ol
Finally, by the fitful light OF the caml
: fire, he saw couple Of rats sitting upe
the log in which his knife had been lei
The knife was gone. and the rats wei
trying to put piece Of stick about
foot long in it's place. They were mai
, ing an effort to get the stick to stand u
i'm the crack, hut, not having the ski r
ouired to insert it properly, it Tell repea
' edly, making the odd sound which ha
puzzled the owner of the knife.
n "Pack rats sometimes come into nous
S on the frontiers. The wild rats OF 81
s woods and deserts do very little damas
). to agriculture; they live in reglol
| 80 xI,oro &c not much in the way