The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1908-03-06
ANIMAL DRINKERS.
when the Rat, the Cat and the
Rabbit Are Thirsty,

When the Rat, the Cat and the
Rabbit Are Thirsty,
All creatures, with the exception of
the highest endowed species, are not
only teetotalers, but drink very mod
erately OF water-neyer anything else.
For instance, 1t would be equally diff
cult to picture a dormouse quaffing a
pint of soda water as a bottle of Bur.
gundy.
Rats, especially when they are feed
Ing on corn In rlcks or barns suffer
very much during a comparatively
short spell Of rainless weather. Even
the dews, which In some measure COM
pensate for the absence of rain, are
quite insufficient for their needs.
If you would like to see really happy
rats watch rat-infested corn stack on
summer evening after a shower fol-
lowing few scorching days. You will
not have long to wait, says Pearson's
Weekly, before you hear the stack rus
tie, as 1t were, and soon the rats will
steal out to gulp down the great, glis-
tening raindrops on the thatch and
herbage near their abode.
So thirsty do rats become that have
seen one which, in spite of my fright
ening him back each time he appeared,
made fresh attempt about every half
minute to gain puddle OF DRAWINGS
from a farmyard. And remember a
farmer, shooting at one, shot no few
er than seven rats which had crowded
to drink from small pool of water
near stable.
Moreover, my experience Of rats
and l have dealt with" tens of thou
sands-leads me to believe that the
larger rats when hard pushed for
drink" kill their own and other rats
young for their blood-truly a ghastly
beverage even in times of famine. This
thory certainly dovetails with the fact
that dry breeding season means a
poor crop Of rats, and vice versa.
Rats are even credited with so far
forgetting themselves as to drink from
uncorked bottles by inserting their
tails into the liquid, though, personally,
l have yet to behold this astute dodge.
My old black cat Is cat among cats,
and l don't think any rat can best her
at ways and means. When she has
plain" thirst puss balances herself on
the edge Of an open galvanized tank
and subdues the feeling by means of
about five tongue laps to one swallow.
But sometimes, after washing day,
for instance, the water level Is too low
for direct drinking, so she dips front
paw and licks the water therefrom in
way unexcelled in daintiness by any
society stars manipulation Of finger
bowl.
Rabbits and hares, which may be
truthfully called strict vegetarlans,
need very little in the shape Of direct
drink but dew, for their food in its
raw state contains very large per-
centage of moisture.
And sheep, in this country, at least.
seldom require water, except In the
hottest part Of the summer, and never,
l believe, when feeding off root crops in
autumn and winter.
Now, water In direct form Is In
dispensable to stoats and weasels. This
accounts for their being found In much
greater numbers In well-watered dis
tricts, where the supply never fails,
than in parts where there Is only
pond here and there which holds water
all the year round.
Ferrets, too, when fed on warm flesh
and milk only, do not thrive so well as
those which have water always In
reach. / suggest that water Is so nec-
essary to stoats and weasels, and In
a lesser degree to ferrets, because the
warm blood Of their prey creates an
exceptional thirst, for salt is present In
considerable quantity in blood.