I've never seen a rat in the wild before. I've seen pet rats and I've handled rats in science classes, but I've never encountered a rat on the streets of Chicago, or anywhere else. I suppose that's a good thing. Some people are horrified by rats, but they don't bother me. Although I suppose that could be because the only rats I've ever seen have been clean and relatively tame. Maybe if I saw a dirty, greasy, hissing, wild rat, I would run the other way. But I found Robert Sullivan's Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants absolutely fascinating. Sullivan stakes out a New York City alley for one year to observe the resident rat population. Sullivan supplies the reader with remarkable facts about rats, such as their astounding rate of reproduction. It seems that rats do only two things: eat and have sex. A female rat can produce up to 12 litters of up to 20 rats each, per year. As for eating, rats seem to prefer carbs over vegetables. Sullivan's particular alley backed up to a Chinese restaurant on one side and an Irish pub on the other. Sullivan also details the fascinating history of New York's ongoing battle with rats, the history of rat fighting and the founding of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in 1866 by Henry Bergh, the history of the sanitation workers' union, the tenant riots in the 1960's led by Jesse Gray, and a brief history of the plague (which, by the way, still occurs sporadically every year in America. Did you know that??). The book is well written, informative, interesting, and entertaining. And, you can impress your friends with your useless knowledge of rats.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Rats!
I've never seen a rat in the wild before. I've seen pet rats and I've handled rats in science classes, but I've never encountered a rat on the streets of Chicago, or anywhere else. I suppose that's a good thing. Some people are horrified by rats, but they don't bother me. Although I suppose that could be because the only rats I've ever seen have been clean and relatively tame. Maybe if I saw a dirty, greasy, hissing, wild rat, I would run the other way. But I found Robert Sullivan's Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants absolutely fascinating. Sullivan stakes out a New York City alley for one year to observe the resident rat population. Sullivan supplies the reader with remarkable facts about rats, such as their astounding rate of reproduction. It seems that rats do only two things: eat and have sex. A female rat can produce up to 12 litters of up to 20 rats each, per year. As for eating, rats seem to prefer carbs over vegetables. Sullivan's particular alley backed up to a Chinese restaurant on one side and an Irish pub on the other. Sullivan also details the fascinating history of New York's ongoing battle with rats, the history of rat fighting and the founding of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in 1866 by Henry Bergh, the history of the sanitation workers' union, the tenant riots in the 1960's led by Jesse Gray, and a brief history of the plague (which, by the way, still occurs sporadically every year in America. Did you know that??). The book is well written, informative, interesting, and entertaining. And, you can impress your friends with your useless knowledge of rats.
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