The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-08-07
RATS THAT TRAVEL BY SEA.
SHIFTING OF THE RAT POPULATION
u 10 SHIPS.


Every ship that comes into port brings its
quota Of undesirable immigrants-not the
human kind that can be sent back by the next
vessel. but fcroclous. intelligent descendants OF
the army OF rats which the picd Piper so deity
enticed from tho German town of Hnmelln by
his sweet music. When they land they become
" wharf rats" sewer rats and house rats"
Fortunately for us the majority stick to the
ships. and remain forever ship rats"
The average sailor welcomes the appearance
Of the rats on shipboard, and. rs u general rule.
II sailor would not ship on q vessel destitute OF
rats. The presence OF the rats on the boat is a
sure indication that tho ship is seuworthy, and
when the rats begin to leave 1t in u body tho
sailors have no further use for the vessel either.
The intelligence OF the ship rats in this respect
Is not to be disputed, and the stories of their
abandoning u sinking ship long before the
skipper discovered the danger arc not founded
upon superstitious sailors yarns. Similarly
the mine rats will foretcll the caving In OF a
mine. and their exodus from u certain mine in
n body will always cause n stampede among
the miners, who. in their haste TO leave the
threatened place. will abandon tools. ma
chinery, and dinner pals.
But the ship rats are far more interesting to
the average observer than the mine rats, for
they are a part of a great world movement that
Is as important in Its way as any shifting Of
the human population. Tho commercial navics
Of the world have given rats the opportunity
to shift their population according to notions
oil their own Nature originally intended that
the brown rat should have one part Of the earth
for its habitation. the black rat another section.
and the white-bellied rodents q third division.
While these great nations overlapped each
other n little, their boundaries were pretty ar
bitrarlly fixed by tho great oceans and other
large bodies OF water. A colony of powerful
rats might swim across the straits and chan
nels separating two islands, and thus take pos
session OF a new country for their descendants,
but they could not hope to cross the Atlantic
or Pacific. and journey unaided from England
to America, or from this country to Australia.
So 1t was that the ships Of men brought
about the first great change in the distributor
OF rats. From the first the rats took to ships
as ducks take to water. They found grain,
provisions, and water in the hulls of the old
wooden ships OF two centuries ago. and ever
since then they have reared a race of hardy
seamen that know the ways Of tho ocean as
well as any jack tar. They have been travelling
back and forth to all parts of the earth for many
centuries now. and they have created great
changes in the rat population OF the globe.
This country never had any typical rats-rep-
resentatives of the genus !MuS-until the old
black English rat came over here on the ships
OF the early colonists. According to the best
authorities, this rodent originally came from
India, from which it has penetrated to every
part Of the habitublc globe. Wherever ships
go these black rats are found. In three CEN
turieS they nave penetrated to every mainland
and island of the tropical, temperate. and
objects on all ships that traverse the seas, and
they are the wharf rats of overy seaport. differ
Inc only u little in size and color. according to
! the abundance of the food and the nature Of
tile climate. IN temperate regions the English
countries it is often several shades lighter. 1t
is about seven to eight inches long, with a tail
ABOUT one inch longer than It's body. =,
undIsputcd sway on the ships OF the worlds
commercial navies, and they distributed them
face. Then gradually there appeared upon the
seas another rat differing materially from the
Rn}1 rat ra3; , This whit. H bniIr creature had q biask
look larger and, lercer than it really, was. A
the white-b ellied, or AleXandriun, rat made
war upon the English rodents. The two could
never snip upon the same vessel. There would
be u war 10 the death before the ship left port,
and after that the successful race would hold
u ~ rpne "a sway W on 5hat particHlar Vessel. This
tries: Every ship that started from Galapagos.
Keeling or Ascension Island was sure TO carry
away with II n company of the white beilied
rats. They would board the ship as soon as she
was tied w at the wharf. and the English black
rats would be ruthlcssly destroyed. Then the
ncrcer AlcXandrian rats would sail away to un-
known ports. IL soon became evident that they
liked warm countries, and they refused TO land
at any, except II tropical rort. Thus they have
spread TO nearly all tropical countries. especially
IN South America and our southern. States.
leaving the, colder countries for their black
rivals. A ship hat comes into port with Alex
andrian rats on board undoubtedly halls from
some tropical land. and they do not come ashore
To. settle down AS inhabitants.
But more recently u third race OF rats has APP
eSterminate an Sddi issplla enc bo onSSf the en bIaek and %
AleXandrian rodents. This brown or Norway
rat is q native OF China and the interior OF Asia.
II is "A huge. fcrocious creature, and wherever
1t goes IL destroys all competitors and takes
complete possession OF the ships or wharves.
In it's native land 1t is n large. powerful rodent,
and upon the ships II attains even Il larger size.
It's length is from 3 to . inches. and its body
is bnllt on heavy lines; Neither the black
this large brown rat has extended its dominion
largely oyer cold countries, and it has come in
u the warm countries where il, has been arti-
fGially introduced it has quickly supplanted
stroy the plantation - rats. and il quickly
suGJuGatcd them and then proved as great a
To-day the black rats are not found IN mum
berS on vessels sailing from any ports where
the brown or Norway rats have become estab-
lishcd, Gradually they are being forced inland
by their more powerful enemies. and. while we
ma the brown rats mostly on ships, along
met with in houses under raftcrs and ceilings,
In this city all three kinds Of rats are found
t do@ S8GsldsFep one n Inn sbio the and 6TowR rats rats pre- RE
black rats in the stores and warehouses;, aud
the A!lexandrian rats being limited To the holds
OF the ships that come from southern ports
Weasels and %ferrets, arc bred to keep down
their numbers. The ~fecundity OF the ruts is 50
great that in afew years they would OverwhelIn
a whole city If they were not kept down Ivy arti.
ncial means. One pair will rear four or five fam
lilies OF ten to fifteen 10 each litter in one year
and In six months these young ones are ready
to reproduce. Thus one couple in the course
OF three years could raise u population OF sew.
eral hundred thousand II not restrained by any
destructive measures.
Ships leaving port for a long cruise extending
oyera period Ola year ortwoh have been known Ia
come into portagain with q cargo Of rats So large
that the seamen were unable TO put them down
Others had been, taken possession Of by the
rats and the sailors forced to abandon their
vessel at sea, SO voraciouS and ferocious are
the big brown rats that they do not hesitate Ia
attack the sailors when pinched for food. Con-
sequently. while the sailors like to have rats "a
company on board the ship. they exercise
precaution 20 limit their numbers, On
sailing vessels that are out at sea for n long
time there are rat-klllIng days. when all the
sailors Join forces to destroy the too numerous