Brown Rats

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 What is it about rats? Why are people delighted to see a squirrel in their garden but start phoning pest control as soon as they see a rat? I don't know if its a cultural thing (there are temples for rats in India for example) or if it is something deep seated and atavistic in that we recognise them as carriers of disease and  competitors for our stores of food.

Yesterday I paid a visit to the bird feeding station at Smardale Reserve belonging to the Cumbria Wildlife Trust - Its a couple of miles from our house along a disused railway line.


The bird feeders here are well stocked and the normally nocturnal rats are bold and adventurous and can be relied on to put in an appearance. You will see from the short clip that the rats thrive in the area around the bird feeders and there are well worn tracks linking the various burrows.


I reckon that I saw at least 20 different individuals from my vantage point.
The special power of the rat is its ability to reproduce. The gestation period is about 24 days. Theoretically two rats could become 15,000 rats in the space of a year!
It helps that rats will eat practically anything and can adapt to almost any environment.






Interestingly when food is in short supply rats lower down the social order are the first to die.
its tempting to make a Covid related political point at this stage - or did I just do that?

Collective name for a group of rats? - A Mischief!




Diary Notes.
A couple of redwing seen on my dog walk today. A kestrel in the bottom field.
Flocks of lapwing and common gull in the field next to us.
Snowdrops starting to come through.

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