As noted earlier, rats and mice are sometimes delivered to the Cat Sanctuary. One little rodent was clever enough to stay inside the wall for more than a week. I put a variety of rodent favorites--apples, peanuts, chocolate, a bit of rice to absorb dampness and keep the other things fresh longer--in a barrel, arranged a way for a rodent to climb up, and waited for appetite to draw the rodent to jump into the barrel. But it was a clever wee beastie, creeping out at night to forage rather than making itself a real nuisance inside, and only this morning at 6 a.m. did I hear the apples rolling around the barrel and know I'd trapped the rodent. I was curious to see what kind of rodent had been so clever.
That's not what I found in the barrel. I think Wikipedia's stock photo is of a different, larger species in the same genus. Same general type of rodent, anyway Photo donated by - https://www.flickr.com/photos/alan_cressler/3905160787/sizes/l/in/photostream/
It was a trader rat--nothing much to look at compared with our chipmunks and deer mice, but still so cute you could almost want to pet it rather than kill it. It tried to hide in the little plastic tub with the chocolate. I took a chance. Instead of spiking it on a hunting knife, which would have cost only a few more steps, I snapped the lid back on the tub, letting the rat's tail hang out, and took it out as a treat for the cats.
They were all curled up in a heap on the porch. The night had felt colder than the last few nights but the Weather Service had said their temperature was just -1 C, about the same as the last few nights. I'd figured my chilliness might be a sign of fever, and gone in to bundle up in bed and wake up warm. But a funny thing happened when I came back online. For the first hour or so the computer first said it was still 29 degrees Fahrenheit at the Weather Station. Then the computer seemed to shake itself awake and said it was 15 degrees Fahrenheit. Subtract 6 degrees from that--it was cold enough that the cats ought to have been inside. They have a nice warm cave in the cellar. Probably they'd left it to the possums, figuring they'd be welcomed into the warm office room if the temperature dropped as low as the computer was now saying it had really been...I have a nice accurate analog thermometer out on the porch. I hadn't looked. I'd trusted the computer.
The cats showed no interest in the rat. They had had their official recommended rations, and probably consumed a few little wild things that had crept in under the house earlier in the night. They did not want to bother chasing the rat away from the house. Within the hour Little Miss Rat was back in the wall.
Trader rats can't crossbreed with, and usually prefer to avoid, house rats, and house mice, and even squirrels. Some species in the trader rat family can be as big as house rats. Ours are smaller than house mice. They have wholesome, unperverted appetites for grass seeds rather than chocolate, and usually prefer to live outdoors. Although the females don't have a strong odor, they chew up things they don't eat and make filthy messes of wood, cloth, paper, rubber, recyclable plastic, and even plaster, just like other rodents, when they do find themselves indoors.
My mother once read that a local mouse species was in decline and exclaimed, "I don't believe it! Every mouse I've ever trapped was a pregnant female." This is likely, because, with no cats, she trapped only the most desperately hungry of the many rodents that gnawed at the old wooden house. Mine is female, but not pregnant. She could already have a litter, in the wall, chewing up the insulation.
They're called trader rats, or pack rats, because they carry things back to their nests. Usually what they carry is food, meaning clusters of grass or weed seeds. They also chew up insulating and cushioning material. Sometimes they "trade" in small hardware or jewelry, having a crow-like interest in adding shiny objects to their nests. Often they're carrying one thing back to their nest when they come to another item they consider more important to take to their nest, so they "trade." They supply themselves and their young (if female; males usually live alone) with lots of different things to eat, to gnaw on, to look at, and to curl up in. It all runs together since rodents excrete valuable nutrients and eat their own excrement. Normally their nest is a burrow in the ground behind some rocks, but in cold weather they do take advantage of shelter provided by humans--sheds, barns, houses, even a nice warm car or truck. And they love the seeds and grains humans tend to store: oats, rice, corn. With a selection of apples, peanuts, chocolate, and raw, stale white rice, what this one ate first was the rice.
They can share several diseases with other rodents, and with humans, especially in summer when fleas and ticks help spread disease germs, but trader rats aren't often blamed for spreading diseases. Usually their mess is merely messy. But for their size they are incredibly messy. Wild trader rats' nests have reached such epic proportions that their congealed excrement has fossilized plant seeds like amber. Presumably the builders of cave rat nests big enough for a man to curl up inside were larger species than ours, but ours can easily ruin ten times their size in material for which humans had a use, in a week or two.
People have made pets of trader rats. People can bond with almost anything but nobody has ever claimed that trader rats made good pets. Trader rats' curiosity, ingenuity, and energy can be entertaining to watch, out in the woods. They can learn to respond to simple cues for treats, but they can't be made less messy except by keeping them constantly in cages...or leaving them outdoors where they belong.
"Serena," I said, "would you like to come into the office and encourage that little rat not to come inside?"
"I thought you'd never ask," said Serena, yawning daintily and coming inside. Once in the office she showed some interest in the rat, which of course retreated into the wall. Serena then curled up in the nest box where she spent her early kittenhood. "One can't really rest when it's cold," she nonverbally beamed. By human standards the office was still cold, about refrigerator temperature. That is what Serena has been accustomed to so she seemed perfectly content..
You can adopt domesticated rodents that adjust a little more easily to being caged than trader rats do, and there are pages for them on Petfinder. (Keep in mind, though, that even when rodents learn to trust you and will come when you call and snuggle up in your pocket, their instincts are still telling them to get out and explore, and chew up the floor, the door, and more, even the non-metal parts of the car engine...) But I promised a dog post today.
Zipcode 10101: Molly from New York
Somebody was just walking down a busy road with a lot of traffic, and was lucky enough to spot this Chihuahua-type dog before it was hit by a car. "Nice doggie! Come here!" and Molly, lost and desperate, leaped into the friendly stranger's arms. That got her into a shelter where she was spayed and vaccinated. Molly is believed to be about 18 months old now, not last spring's unwanted puppy but the year before. She is described as naughty in a lovable push-the-envelope sort of way, but good with other dogs and cats.
/Zipcode 20202: Emerson FROM TENNESSEE
Her web page: https://www.petfinder.com/dog/emerson-70108487/dc/washington/fayette-county-animal-rescue-tn57/
She's from Tennessee. She's in Tennessee. She is currently the responsibility of a DC shelter. They're asking for a large adoption fee, more than half of which is transportation fees. If you are in Tennessee and can adopt her in the normal way, she might be a bargain.
Emerson is thought to be currently about nine months old. She already weighs 38 pounds. She was found straying on the street, and the shelter will ask for proof that she's going to a place with a big fenced yard. As a puppy, she's already been spayed and had the essential vaccinations, but will need further training and booster shots. She will probably grow into those ears.
Zipcode 30303: Mozilla from Fulton County
His web page: https://www.petfinder.com/dog/mozilla-65719010/ga/atlanta/fulton-county-animal-services-ga217/
It was an easy choice. This week's theme was "front page winners" and the front page contained exactly two photos that might be considered winners. The poodle was adopted while I was reading the page so here, although I'm not familiar with the breed, is the Saluki. Salukis were bred by Arabs who considered them cleaner than other dogs. They're not common in the United States. If you adopt this handsome lad you can count on lots of admiring glances and friendly chats that begin with "What kind of dog is that?" He is believed to be about as big as he's likely to grow--medium size, smaller than the police dog shown above will be by next summer.
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