Читать книгу The Rat; Its History & Destructive Character - James Rodwell - Страница 8

This species of rat bears little resemblance to those just enumerated, either in habits or manners. It is as innocent and seclusive as the others are daring and rapacious. It eats neither fish, flesh, nor fowl, but lives entirely on roots that grow in the water, and at the water’s edge; which position it never quits under any circumstances, either in summer or winter; but there it lives and dies, in quiet seclusion. It is perfectly herbivorous, and may often be seen sitting on a stone in the stream, or among the rushes on the bank-side, with a piece of succulent root beween its fore-paws, and nibbling its repast in perfect peace with every living thing. In its external appearance it is not unlike a diminutive otter, but is as timid and innocent in its expression as the otter is fierce and vindictive. It is of a reddish-brown colour, and about the size of a common sewer rat, but with a much shorter tail, which is covered with hair. It seems to have no ears, as they are so short that the fur entirely hides them; and its front teeth, or rather incisor teeth, are much longer and stronger than those of the other species of rats, and are perfectly yellow. It has young but twice a year, and very few at a birth; consequently the species is rather scarce. The great majority of those animals which we see about the ditches and rivers are the common brown rat.