Rat: How the World's Most Notorious Rodent Clawed its Way to the top
4 journalers for this copy...
I’ve read and enjoyed other books about rats, see http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/11406937/
which is strange because, despite my affection for many other rodents, these creatures scare the heck out of me. Maybe it’s this attraction-revulsion that makes me so interested in reading about them. And they are amazing creatures, bound to outlast most other species.
This book is a somewhat short, but interesting and informative read by a Canadian author, Jerry Langton. Some of the information he shares is from his experiences in Toronto, but I think rats and their behavior are pretty much the same everywhere. :-)
The writing style is easy to read and feels more like a conversation between author and reader than a typical nonfiction book. I appreciate this!
An interesting tidbit I learned is that there is a word for rats’ preference of sticking close to walls or other objects when traveling: thigmophilia, which means “love of touching”.
Langton starts with a history of the rat and how they were able to colonize most parts of the world. He also discusses the Plague (of course; what book about rats would be complete without it?); differences between the black (Rattus rattus) and brown, or Norway, rat (Rattus norvegicus); various means of extermination with their pros and cons; lab rats; and the people who own and love rats and try to defend their reputation.
I just loved this quick and interesting read!
which is strange because, despite my affection for many other rodents, these creatures scare the heck out of me. Maybe it’s this attraction-revulsion that makes me so interested in reading about them. And they are amazing creatures, bound to outlast most other species.
This book is a somewhat short, but interesting and informative read by a Canadian author, Jerry Langton. Some of the information he shares is from his experiences in Toronto, but I think rats and their behavior are pretty much the same everywhere. :-)
The writing style is easy to read and feels more like a conversation between author and reader than a typical nonfiction book. I appreciate this!
An interesting tidbit I learned is that there is a word for rats’ preference of sticking close to walls or other objects when traveling: thigmophilia, which means “love of touching”.
Langton starts with a history of the rat and how they were able to colonize most parts of the world. He also discusses the Plague (of course; what book about rats would be complete without it?); differences between the black (Rattus rattus) and brown, or Norway, rat (Rattus norvegicus); various means of extermination with their pros and cons; lab rats; and the people who own and love rats and try to defend their reputation.
I just loved this quick and interesting read!
Traveling in Mary Zee's Biographies of Things Bookbox.
I had to chuckle when I saw that the last 3 numbers of the BCID were 666. That sums up many people's thoughts about rats. I don't mind them as pets, but not so crazy about seeing them in the wild in the city.
At any rate, this book was in the book box when I opened it tonight. I am taking the contents of the box to meet-up tomorrow because some of the locals have expressed an interest. After that, we shall see what happens.
At any rate, this book was in the book box when I opened it tonight. I am taking the contents of the box to meet-up tomorrow because some of the locals have expressed an interest. After that, we shall see what happens.
Journal Entry 4 by 
6of8
at -- Mail or by hand-rings, RABCK, meetings, Maryland USA on Friday, January 20, 2017
6of8 at -- Mail or by hand-rings, RABCK, meetings, Maryland USA on Friday, January 20, 2017
Released 7 yrs ago (1/20/2017 UTC) at -- Mail or by hand-rings, RABCK, meetings, Maryland USA
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
This book is in the Biography of Things BookBox and is off to travel the country.
Any future reader or recipient of this book is encouraged to leave a journal entry here on the BookCrossing site to let prior readers know the fate of the book. You can make an anonymous entry without joining the BookCrossing movement, but if you are interested in joining, it is a free and spam-free community where your contact information is not shared with others. Best of all, members receive private messages via e-mail from books like this one when those books are journaled, allowing for long-term relationships between books and readers.
Any future reader or recipient of this book is encouraged to leave a journal entry here on the BookCrossing site to let prior readers know the fate of the book. You can make an anonymous entry without joining the BookCrossing movement, but if you are interested in joining, it is a free and spam-free community where your contact information is not shared with others. Best of all, members receive private messages via e-mail from books like this one when those books are journaled, allowing for long-term relationships between books and readers.
I'm claiming this from the Biographies of Things bookbox. Turns out I enjoyed Robert Sullivan's book Rats, the same title mentioned by eponine38; will see how this book compares. [I'm rather fond of rats and mice, though when they invade the house I am forced to declare war on them.]
Fairly thorough, a quick read some good information - but there was one thing that really rankled with me. The author includes a few news items and letters as section-header lead-ins, a reasonable idea - but three of those items came from the same online petition to stop a proposed ban of pet rats in Saskatchewan, with two of the three apparently selected for their misspellings, grammatical errors, and all-caps ranting. The third one was relatively calm and reasonable, though even then the headline was "Don't Take Are Rats" - and even if the original petition may have featured more misspelled or ranting posts than reasonable ones (and may, for all I know, have included the grammatical error in its own heading), I thought that the presence of those items indicated a not-very-nice bias on the author's part, suggesting that "people who want to keep pet rats are illiterate and/or crazy". So... yeah. When he does discuss pet rats he points out that they're a very different breed than the wild ones, but I didn't think those letters added anything to the book.
The most unnerving segments, to me, were the ones about the ecological damage that rats have done to isolated island communities - though even then, whenever the author talked about their habit of consuming the available resources and spoiling much of what they don't eat, all I could think was "Yeah, they're a lot like people, aren't they?" {wry grin}
The sections on the history and evolution of rats, and on their adaptability to different climates and food sources, were definitely interesting and colorful. And it's all too clear that they're a prolific and resilient species, likely to out-adapt us!
The most unnerving segments, to me, were the ones about the ecological damage that rats have done to isolated island communities - though even then, whenever the author talked about their habit of consuming the available resources and spoiling much of what they don't eat, all I could think was "Yeah, they're a lot like people, aren't they?" {wry grin}
The sections on the history and evolution of rats, and on their adaptability to different climates and food sources, were definitely interesting and colorful. And it's all too clear that they're a prolific and resilient species, likely to out-adapt us!
I'm sending this to BCer rubyrebel in Ohio as part of the US/Canada wishlist tag game. Enjoy!
*** Released for the 2017 Keep Them Moving release challenge. ***
*** Released for the 2017 Keep Them Moving release challenge. ***
thank you for this wonderful wishlist book
