The image (a screenshot from a video) tells you all you need to know about the difficulties that some domestic and stray cats can have in confronting a rat. That’s why I think this is particularly relevant to a website about cats. A lot of people think that barn cats and domestic cats can keep down the rat and rodent population where they live.
It’s half-true. Domestic and stray cats can be a deterrence to the presence of rats and rodents but when it comes to a confrontation, there are many rats who will do what this one did and choose to stand up on their hind legs and pushed back the cat as if they’re in a one-on-one fight of equals.
I have just found the video. Here it is:
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This rat simply does not accept that he or she is smaller and vulnerable in the face of a much larger and highly capable predator. A predator which sees the rat as a prey animal.
What I love about this rat is that he goes up on his hind legs in that arched, threatening posture, squeaking and snarling and pushes the cat backwards. The cat tentatively swats at the rat, playing safe but is clearly unnerved and does not wish to engage in a proper fight.
Like I said, it says all you need to know about the abilities of some rats to survive and their courage. You can’t deny this rat has plenty of courage. It is admirable and impressive. That is not something people want to read because the rat is denigrated almost universally across the planet.
I’m unsure if I can adopt that viewpoint. They are sentient beings like any other, surviving in a difficult world. I think we need to respect them a bit more. Here is some information about the amazing rat.
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About the humble, denigrated and persecuted rat
The SPCA in British Columbia, Canada take a similar viewpoint to me. They state that rats are really cool animals with some amazing abilities.
They say that rats laugh when they’re happy such as when playing or feeding and even when someone tickles them.
There are excellent climbers and swimmers. They are very nimble. They can scale vertical surfaces and walk along ropes and powerlines like tightrope walkers (see below).
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They are great swimmers; able to swim for kilometres with their whiskers helping them to keep their heads above water. They can hold their breath and swim underwater.
Rats can see in colour but apparently it’s mostly in gray tones with blues and greens. They can also see ultraviolet colours which humans can’t. And surprisingly, under ultraviolet light their bodies glow so that they can see each other in complete darkness.
Adult rats can flatten their bodies to enable them to squeeze through small openings which might amaze people.
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As is the case the cats, rats have a very good sense of smell and they can identify other rats by their scent. They can tell whether they’re male or female, their age and what they’ve been eating and whether they are family members, all by their body odour!
Their sense of smell is so good that they can locate where a smell is coming from three times more quickly than humans. This appears to have evolved in order to locate food rapidly.
As with domestic cats, rats have super-night vision. Their eyesight is very sensitive to light. As you know they tend to live in dark places and they’ve evolved the ability to see in near total darkness. Because of this, bright sunlight can cause eye damage to a rat.
Despite these positives, overall, their eyesight is not great and about 20 times worse than that of humans. They have poor depth perception making it difficult for them to judge an object’s distance from them. I guess their sense of smell makes up for it plus they have great whiskers which are more important to a rat than their eyesight.
Their whiskers are more sensitive than a human’s fingertips and they use whiskers to create a detailed picture of their environment. Their whiskers sweep back and forth seven times per second according to the SPCA. Each whisker can move individually and in different directions. They extend their whiskers in front to feel and touch what is in front of them as a substitute for seeing with their eyes.
A rat’s tail helps them to regulate their body heat. It makes up about 5% of their surface area but it can remove heat from their body as if it occupied 17% of their surface area. I guess that is because there is no hair on it 😎.
They also regulate the flow of blood through their tail to help control their body temperature. When they want to cool down they pump more blood into their tail to allow the body heat in the blood to dissipate through the tail’s skin.
Rats can taste sweetness, bitterness, saltiness and sourness like humans. That appears to be better than cats because cats can’t taste sweetness. And rats love sweet foods. You can tell when they like food because their facial expression changes.
Their front teeth grow at a rate of 4 to 6 inches annually like all other rodents. They have to gnaw on things to wear them down. Their front teeth are never more than 40-50 days old. As a result they don’t get cavities because their teeth are always freshly grown.
My son had a rat. He taught it all kinds of tricks and it loved him. It followed him all over the house and never pooped or peed on him and would go in a litter box. Darn thing would jump in the shower with him too. When it died my son cried like a baby because like most pets the rat was family.