Is it Time to Stop Hating the Rat?  – BBC

1-18-18    You dirty rat; I smell a rat; like a rat deserting a sinking ship.

It’s clear from the English language that rats don’t have the best reputation in our culture.

Rats are seen as dirty, vicious and the spreaders of disease including the plague – which in the 14th century caused the deaths of more than a third of Europe’s population.

However, a recent study has found that it was humans rather than rats that were responsible for the spread of the Black Death.

So is it time to rehabilitate the reputation of the rat?  READ MORE


Watch what happens when scientists tickle a rat


Enter Rose, A Broadway rat with a past


Rats are great swimmers / How rats get in your toilet


Kids with Pets do better at School – Especially RAT owners, says study

Kids who have pets do better at their homework – with RAT owners best of all, according to a new study.   A survey of 1,000 pet-owning children, aged between 5-16 years old, revealed that 79 percent believe their pet friends had a positive effect on their homework and schoolwork in general.   READ MORE

www.martymousehouse.com


Rats dream about the places they wish to go

www.martymousehouse.com

June 26 · 2015

Do you dream of where you’d like to go tomorrow? It looks like rats do.

When the animals are shown a food treat at the end of a path they cannot access and then take a nap, the neurons representing that route in their brains fire as they sleep – as if they are dreaming about running down the corridor to grab the grub.  READ MORE


Do Rats Dream of the Future? 

Rodents, one might guess, live in the present – seeking out the best rewards they can scurry to. Indeed, the Scottish poet, Robert Burns, encapsulated this in his poem, “To a Mouse”, with the lines: Still, thou art blest compar’d wi’ me! The present only toucheth thee: But Och! I backward cast my e’e, On prospects drear! An’ forward, tho’ I canna see, I guess an’ fear!   READ MORE


East Bay Rats Need Your Help

June 23 · 2015

North Star Rescue is undertaking another large case of rats in a hoarding situation. The owner of the rats took them from a severe neglect situation, but was unable to contain the rats and they got loose in the house and started breeding out of control. We were able to visit the home this week and estimate that there are 500 rats in the property, not all of which are in cages right now.  READ MORE