Small hearts beat the same
I remember one evening, before sunset, when I was a kid, my mother and I were walking parallel to my school wall, on our way home. I heard a slight rustle sound from my left and slightly slowed my walking pace, pulling my mother’s hand back. Before I could even react, a grey line, 30 cm away from my head, fell down and disappeared as quicky as it came. We stood there confused for a few seconds, until I looked into the street and I saw a fuzzy rat running. A strong feeling of dread washed over my mom, imagining the horror of that rat possibly falling on our heads. I burst out laughing at how funny that would’ve been and how much guts the little rascal had to jump of the wall like that.
My mom saw the rat as a pest, an unpleasant vermin full of deseases and threats, while I saw a poor soul, probably being more scared than we are, trying to find food and shelter. I have always felt adamant to the intensity of the aversion so many people have with rodents, especially rats, despite partially understanding its origin. I have read about them intensively and discovered what amazing and charming creatures they can be if you really get to know them and I really hope, by the end of this article, I could convince a few people to, at least, tolerate them more in the future, or perhaps even love them as much as I do.
Oh, rats!
Rats are stigmatized mainly because they are known to spread diseases faster than dozens of pigeons flying down when they hear seeds spilling from a bag. As far as people know, these bald-tailed little rodents are the very reason for the bubonic plague spawning into Europe and wiping out an enormous chuck of what was the global population at the time.
This brings injustice to our furry friends as them being the main cause of the diseases is a grotesque misconception. The actual guilty parties were the little jumpers that, just as well, dig into the fur of your beloved pets every summer. Rats had a handful of bad luck and shouldn’t be so harshly shunned for simply being carriers, without their control, for bacteria and virus filled blood-suckers.
Hairless tails save lives
They benefit ecosystems and humans immensely, not simply by being food or experiment lackeys, but way more. They can be trained to aid in the rescue of humans and other animals after the damages brought by several catastrophic events.
Rats have a sense of smell that could rival that of our canine buddies, while being way more resistant to substance leakages than bigger rescue animals are. Their evolutionary adaptability helps them detect the harmful chemicals faster so that something can be done about it.
In case of people stuck under rubble after an earthquake or during warfare, they can be well trained to go through the cracks, with mini cameras on their backs. Their agility and small size allows them to crawl through smaller spaces more efficiently, alerting the rescue teams quicker of the survivor’s whereabouts and thus saving more lives.
From pests and subjects to pets
Thanks to multiple experiments done on them until the end of the 19th century, rats paved the way for world-changing medical advancements, such as vaccines for diseases like polio, hepatitis or influenza, minimally invasive surgical procedures, organ transplants and a better understanding of neurology and psychology in mammals.
With the beginning of the 20th century, however, came a new era for rats that changed their lives for the better. During those respective research programs, scientists have observed how intelligent, gentle and playful rats actually are, not only with each other, but with the lab workers as well. They first tried domesticating the norwegian wild rat by selective breeding, and after multiple generations, the final result was the cute, fat, cuddly rats you see in YouTube videos, Rattus Norvegica Domesticus.
Rats became though the human eye veneered show stars and popular, precious and affectionate companions, capable of forming deep bonds with their caretakers, but also great therapy animals. Their small size, easy maintainability and low allergenicity, in contrast to cats or dogs, gave them an incredible advantage in the position of helper for people with physical or mental disabilities.
Wild or tamed, still lovable
This change, accompanied by all the ways in which rats have helped us throughout history, made the connection between human and rat to be worth pondering, made it possible for the little rodents to prove to us that they are worthy of care and love and can give back tenfold, no matter if they’re snuggling in our laps on a relaxing shady day or they roam the streets, searching for food, shelter and social connection between their families and their young pups.
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