World Rat Day

Me and rats. We go back a long way.

I am happy to be celebrating, if that is the right word, today as World Rat Day.

Many may not feel the same way. I can understand that position as, let's face it, rats still need a bit of a publicity boost, a beauty parade and some solid role models.

It is hard to put aside the decimation of 60% of the European population in the 14th Century attributable to Rattus Rattus or the Black Rat and other localised outbreaks of plaque and sickness spread by vermin over the ages.

In my childhood and living on the edge of a commuter town we would often see the scuttling scaley tail of a rat disappearing into the verge after being briefly caught in the sweep of the car on our return home from visiting friends or relatives. That image has stuck with me although was made a bit easier at the time by the benevolent character of Roderick the water rat in the grainy black and white children's TV series of "Tales of the Riverbank" which was first broadcast in 1960 in the UK.

There is that very stark contrast between wild rats and what are termed "fancy rats" that are such popular and endearing pets in our own homes but that many cannot quite accept.

I have come across wild rats quite frequently but do not agree with the urban myth that we, as humans, are at any time no more than six feet away from one of them. There are certainly a great number of them as a consequence of the environmental conditions that are a spin off of modern life and lifestyles such as an abundance of discarded or poorly managed waste to provide food and a lot of dead space in our cities and towns.

I live in a riverside Port and the sight of large live or road-kill squashed rats are common close to the Docks after dark or in the early hours of the morning.

In my daily work of inspecting buildings I am aware of the potential risks of coming into contact with rats and I take precautions in case there is a possible exposure to Weils Disease which can be a fatal affliction.

I have had some almost surreal comedy moments involving rats.

Whilst out cycling some years ago and on a particularly hot day I rode through a sleepy village. There was no sign of life from the cottages and larger executive houses and very little through traffic. I was not the only one taking advantage of the tranquil summers day as on the pavement just by the "Thank You for driving Carefully" sign was a large brown rat sunning itself on the naturally heated tarmac. It was rolling around on its back soaking up the rays and did not bother to move as I cycled by within a pedal's length.

My other experiences have not been as mutually pleasant.

I was employed as casual labour on a farm during my student vacations. One regular task was to muck out the pigs in the breeding pens. The combination of warmth from overhead heat lamps for the new born piglets, loose feedstuffs and the occasional and unfortunate demise of the runt of a litter was a major attraction for the resident rat population.

A challenge laid down to us as muckers-outers was to tackle any rats that might be around with the help of a hockey stick. They were of course very careful and cautious about the slightest contact with humans. The only way to confront them was to burst into a blacked-out pig pen, switch on the bright overhead lights , quickly close the door behind and  flail about as though in an us and them situation.

One of my co-workers successfully entered in the glare of the artificial light to be faced with half a dozen scavenging rodents. Unfortunately as the door closed we saw his first swing of the hockey stick smash the bulb plunging the straw lined compartment again into pitch blackness.

His screams upon realising his predicament chilled us to the core or at least that was the other emotion which tempered our uncontrollable laughter.

Although a daily task in my holiday job on the farm I should make reassurances that none of us ever caused harm to a rat. They were far too clever.

Through my own experiences, although somewhat shameful in intent, I have come to have a grudging respect for rats.

World Rat Day seeks to reinforce the nicer aspects of the species and it has, since its introduction in 2002 gone a long way to promote and celebrate these hardy and resourceful creatures.