Rats, especially stackyard ones, are of a very clean nature.  You will find that after they have had their first feed they diligently wash themselves.  These Rats feed on nothing but good stuff, such as wheat, corn, and meal; and from experience I find that if a man is bitten on the hand by one of these Brown or Stack Rats it never “takes bad ways,” but, if bitten by a dirty Drain Rat, then whether he cauterises or bathes the wound is no matter, it is sure to “take bad ways.”  I think the reason of this is because the Drain Rat, when it cannot get anything else to eat, exists on the worms and slugs, and this, I think, causes the teeth to become more venomous.  When bitten in this way blood poisoning is very likely to ensue.  Indeed, you must understand that the teeth of a full-grown Rat are quite half-an-inch long, and the jaw is very strong, so that if you are bitten on the finger it is almost sure to penetrate to the bone.  I have known a good many cases of blood poisoning through Rat-bites.

The damage Rats can do to property, commodities, etc., is almost incredible.  I have had so many examples of this that I scarcely know which to submit as illustration.  I think the worst case I have seen was where they gnawed a hole half way through a 2-1/4 inch lead pipe, and often I have known them to bite through a one-inch lead pipe.  The worst damage is done when they get under the flag floors of cottage houses out of the drains.  They scratch the soil from beneath the flags, which then sink, and the consequent stench from the drains is abominable, jeopardising the health of the tenants.  I have seen a great many of these cases in the poorer parts of Manchester.  The damage the Rats will do in the silk and similar trades, to the goods of merchants, or in the grocery business, is enormous, and not so much by reason of what they actually eat as by what they carry away, which is often ten times as much as they eat.  I have often proved this when ferreting at a wholesale grocery warehouse.  When we have taken up the boards between the laths and plaster we have found the ceiling almost full of lump sugar, nuts, candles, etc., which have been there for years, hoarded by the Rats.  Now, this all means heavy loss, and that is why I say that any business man so suffering ought to engage the services of a professional Rat-catcher once a year in order to keep the Rats down, and catch as many as possible before they begin breeding.

Another Rat habit may be noticed where the Rodents are accustomed to have their holes and runs among flags and stones.  If they find any soft wood such as pine or white deal, they will nibble at it until it is eaten through.  I have often known them to eat right through the legs of tables in the middle of cooking kitchens.  This, I think, they do simply to keep their teeth clean and in order; I have known half-grown Rats to do the same.

Rats can exist a long time on herbage, if they can get nothing more palatable.  It is a very common thing to find Rats in the rabbit burrows when ferreting; in fact, I have seen, not once, but many times, Rats, rabbits, and weasels all bolt from the same burrow.  I have also unearthed a Rat and a rabbit together out of one single burrow.