RODENTS

(Rattus norvegicus)

(Rattus rattus)

This is the species that has inspired most of the legends and conventional wisdom about the rat’s ferocity. The brown (or Norway) rat, which lives in our cellars and sewers, is indeed much calmer and only attacks if it is disturbed or its escape route is blocked. Today the black rat can only be found in fields, hence is common name (in French), the field rat. It can be best described as a large mouse, slightly smaller than the brown rat. Indeed its appearance is much closer to mice than to brown rats, in terms of the morphology (round ears, body proportions, size of eyes, etc.), than its character.

The black rat in Europe.

The black rat was the dominant rat in Europe from Antiquity until the 18th century, when it was supplanted by the brown rat from India, more robust and fertile. The reason for this decline is probably due partly to the climate cooling from the 17th century onwards (the black rat is in fact sensitive to cold, like mice), and partly to the changes in construction habits, when barns and dirty streams (preferred by black rats) were abandoned in favour of cellars and sewers (preferred by brown rats). The plague epidemics of the Middle Ages, for which the black rat was not only the vector but also the victim, certainly played a role in reducing the population of this species. Today we find it in all countries in Europe, except Iceland and Norway.

Character

The black rat is a very intelligent animal and can be a captivating companion, but it is important to stress that this is not a domesticated species and it will always remain a wild animal (unlike its brown cousin). Certainly this is a wild animal that can be tamed and would no doubt be ready to exchange its freedom for free food and protection from predators, but it is nevertheless: a wild animal: don’t expect cuddles, and it will only stay in its cage if it accepts to do so (it can be incredibly determined to escape and once outside it is almost impossible to trap it, if it has decided otherwise). A few attempts to domesticate it have been attempted without much success. The only relatively effective way to tame a black rat is to take it from its mother when it is still a baby, before weaning, and feed it yourself as if you were its mother.

It is nevertheless important to note that each rat has its own very different personality and that it may be that even adults captured from the wild are friendly and playful. But they can also be very aggressive and have no hesitation in attacking animals much larger than them, simply because they have decided they are a rival to be eliminated. An interesting aspect of the black rat is that doesn’t think in terms of species or clans but based on individual emotional affinities. If a black rat has decided that it doesn’t like you, beware, it will have no hesitation in attacking you at the first opportunity, even if you haven’t harmed it. Black rats have a less serious bite that brown rat, but they are as quick as lightning and can be of true harpies by attacking you from all sides.

(Glis glis)

(Elyomis quereinus)

(Mus musculus)

(Apodemus sylvatieus)