Although the rat's work takes him into the foulest places, he always
keeps himself neat and tidy. To wash his coat he uses his tongue and
paws in the same way that a cat uses hers, and he invariably takes such
a bath after he has been eating or working.
Rats are disliked and hunted by men, yet they often shield our homes
from the danger of disease. When rats infest a place it is proof that
there is work for them to do, and though they may easily become a
plague, we should remember that it was probably our own carelessness
which first brought them.
The intelligence shown by rats is remarkable. They have frequently been
known to carry eggs up and down stairs in their paws; one rat pushing
the egg and others receiving it. It happened, one day, that a trap was
set and carefully watched. A young rat was about to step upon the fatal
spring, when the watcher saw an old rat rush to the rescue. The little
one was seized by the tail and promptly dragged off to his hole.
Probably he was told to be less reckless in future.
Rats have great courage and devotion, as many stories prove. Once, when
some rats were being driven from a ship, a young rat was seen carefully
making its way along a rope, with an old and feeble rat upon its back.
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