Abstract
HAVING noticed some time ago a number of letters in NATURE on the above subject, I venture to publish an instance, which came under my own observation last month, of extraordinary intelligence in a rat. I was standing in the doorway of a large shed, the further end of which had been partitioned off with bars to form a fowl-house, when I was attracted by a gnawing and scraping noise; turning round I saw a rat run from a large dog-biscuit which was lying on the floor, and pass through the bars. Be ing curious to watch if he would return, I kept quiet, and presently saw a well-grown specimen of the “common brown rat” (Mus decumanus) come cautiously forward, and after nibbling for a short time at the biscuit, drag it toward the bars, which are only two inches apart, and would not allow the biscuit to pass. After several unsuccessful attempts he left it, and in about five minutes returned with another rat, rather smaller than himself. He then came through the bars, and, pushing his nose under the biscuit, gradually tipped it on edge, rat number two pulling vigorously from the other side; by this means they finally succeeded in getting a four-inch biscuit through a two-inch aperture. Not feeling pleased that my dog's biscuits should be used as food for rats, I threw a hammer at them and picked up the biscuit.
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KIRK, T. Animal Intelligence. Nature 30, 240 (1884). https://doi.org/10.1038/030240a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/030240a0
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