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© 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

Have you ever been around a pet rat,perhaps in your classroom? Maybe youhave seen rats in an alley or field nearyour home.

Over the centuries, rats have caused alot of trouble for people. But they havealso helped us learn more aboutourselves. The Mini Page looks at thissometimes creepy, sometimes helpfulanimal.Rodent family

A rat is a rodent. Rodents includeanimals such as mice, guinea pigs,hamsters, squirrels, chipmunks andbeavers. Rodents make up the largestgroup of mammals on Earth. There areabout 2,300species, or kinds,of rodents.

Rodents all havelong, sharp teethcalled incisors.Many otheranimals, including humans, have incisorstoo. But in rodents, the incisors areespecially long. They keep growingthroughout most of a rodent’s life.

Rodents also have powerful jawmuscles. Rodent jaws and incisors arespecially designed to gnaw through hardmaterial. For example, a beaver can chewthrough trees. Rats can chew throughlead and aluminum. Rats also dig withtheir incisors.

Rat bodyA Norway rat’s incisors grow about 4 to

5 inches a year. They need to keepchewing on things to wear down theirteeth. If they didn’t, their teeth wouldgrowthroughtheir skulls.Rats willgnaw onwhateverthey cansink theirteeth into, including cement or brick.

Norway and roof rats have long, skinnytails covered with scales. They have longsnouts and a super strong sense of smell.They have furry bodies with sharp clawson their paws.

Rat or mouse?Experts say

the maindifferencebetween ratsand mice istheir size. Thebodies of rats

people commonly see are usually at least5 inches long (not counting their tails).The common Norway rat’s body can growup to 18 inches long.

The common mouse is about 2 to 3inches long (without its tail).

Rats and mice are different species,though. Mouse parents won’t give birth tobabies so big that they are called rats.Rats won’t give birth to little mice.

A Plague and a Partner

Rat Tales

photo courtesy National Institute of Health

The Norway rat is the mostcommon rat in the UnitedStates. It is the kind you willmost likely see in cities or aspets.There are about as many ratsin the United States as thereare humans. However, manyspecies of rats live in thewild, away from humans.They live in fields, forestsand marshes. Some rats liveunderground their entirelives.

BETTY DEBNAM — Founding Editor and Editor at LargeHOUSTON CHRONICLE Saturday, May 30, 2009

Mini Spy ...from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

Mini Spy and Basset Brown are watching his pet rat.See if you can find:

• lips• ladder• letter F• kite • net• boomerang• pencil• orange slice• arrow• peanut• bandage• dice


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Rat-like or human-like behavior?Some rats, such as Norway rats,

share many behavior traits, orcharacteristics, with humans. Both:

• are social animals; they like tohang out with others of their kind.

• are adaptable. Rats and humanscan figure out how to live inall sorts of conditions. This hashelped both species thrive, or do well,all over the world.

• can learnnew things.

• can teachwhat they havelearned totheir young.

Rat worldRats have spread all over the world,

often by hitching rides with humans. Ratsspread from Europeand Asia to theAmericas by stowingaway on ships.

There are hundredsof species of rats. The two species mostfamiliar to people are the roof rat andthe Norway rat. They can be foundeverywhere there are humans.

Roof ratThe roof rat is also

known as the houserat, ship rat or blackrat. It can be white,black or gray.

Experts believe it may have originallycome from India. It is a strong climberand can often be found in trees or onroofs. It mainly eats plant matter suchas fruits, vegetables and grains. Itdestroys many food crops.Norway rat

The Norwayrat is also knownas the brown rat,wharf rat, sewerrat or water rat.It can be white, brown or black.

The Norway rat probably came fromChina. It got its name because peoplethought it came to Norway from Asiaand then spread through Europe.

Norway rats thrive in cities, living ingarbage dumps, sewers and buildings.They are mostly nocturnal, whichmeans they are most active at night.

Norway rats are great swimmers.They eat almost any type of food.

Rats Are Everywhere

Scientists test the memory of rats taught toswim to an underwater platform in a pool.The white rats you see as pets or labanimals are probably Norway rats. Theyhave white fur and pink eyes because theyare albino (al-BYE-no). Albino animals don’thave the coloring normal to their species.Scientists breed certain strains of rats towork within laboratory settings.

Words that remind us of rats are hidden in the block below. Some wordsare hidden backward or diagonally. See if you can find: TAIL, INCISORS,NORWAY, ROOF, PLAGUE, DISEASE, EAT, PET, RODENT, GNAW,JAW, CHEW, DIG, SNOUT, PAW, BEHAVIOR, ADAPTABLE, SHIP,LAB, ALBINO, FOOD, NOCTURNAL, MAZE, COLONY, BURROW.

RATS TRY ’NFIND

RATS CAN BEGOOD PETS!

G S O N I B L A Y N O L O C N

T N H C W O R R U B D I G P OA J A I H E P F O O R D M L CI K A W P E A A D O O F A A TL L M W K L W T W P E T Z G UL S R O S I C N I L A B E U RT N E D O R D I S E A S E E NE L B A T P A D A T U O N S AY A W R O N R O I V A H E B L


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Rookie Cookie’s RecipeStrawberry Gelatin Treat



Meet Cathy Fink and Marcy MarxerCathy Fink and Marcy Marxer have

made several CDs of music for families.They have won two Grammy awards.

They play many instruments,including banjo, electric guitar,mandolin, spoons, pennywhistle, steeldrum and ukulele. They sing manystyles of music, too, including yodelingand chicken clucking in harmony!

Cathy and Marcy direct three ukulele orchestras, one for a Brownietroop, one for senior citizens and one for advanced players. The two womenlive in Maryland.

Cathy grew up in Baltimore and learned to play the guitar when shewas 12. She began playing music for kids at a school on a Navajo Indianreservation.

Marcy grew up in Michigan. She loved playing the guitar while hergrandmother played along on the piano. She went to a school for dramaticarts, as well as to the Ringling Brothers Clown School.

You’ll need:• 1 (6-ounce) package sugar-free gelatin• 2 cups boiling water• 1 cup fat-free strawberry yogurt• 2 cups sliced strawberries• 1 small banana, slicedWhat to do:1. Dissolve gelatin powder in 2 cups boiling water. (Do not add

additional cold water.)2. Stir in strawberry yogurt until well-mixed.3. Add fruit to mixture.4. Chill for several hours until set.*You will need an adult’s help with this recipe.



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Go dot to dot and color this adaptable mammal.

Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer

All the following jokes have something in common.Can you guess the common theme or category?

Rocky: What sound is made when arat shoots a machine gun?

Rick: Rat-a-tat-tat!

Renee: Can you spell a rat trapwith three letters?

Rachel: C-A-T!

Roxanne: Why can’t you catch a rat when itruns out from under the stove?

Randy: Because it’s out of range!

Standards Spotlight:Rat Tales

Mini Page activities meet many state and national educational standards. Each week weidentify standards that relate to The Mini Page’s content and offer activities that will helpyour students reach them.This week’s standards:• Students understand the characteristics of organisms. (Science: Life Science)• Students understand the interactions of animals and their environments. (Science: Life Science)Activities:1. Create a “Wanted” poster. Print “Wanted” at the top of a piece of paper. Draw a rat under the word.

Then paste newspaper words and pictures to show problems rats can cause under your picture.2. With a friend, go through the newspaper using two different-colored markers. Circle plants and

food that rats might eat with one color. Circle non-food things they might chew on with anothercolor. What is the softest thing you circled? What is the hardest?

3. Compare rats and humans with a Venn diagram. Draw two circles that overlap in the middle. Inthe center section, write the ways humans and rats are similar. In the left circle, write the wayshumans are different from rats. In the right circle, write the ways rats are different from humans.

4. How does each of these items relate to rats: (a) ships, (b) laboratories, (c) diseases, (d) telephonepoles and (e) burrows?

5. Use a library book or the Internet to read the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. He had anunusual way of getting rats out of a town. Now write a story with your own creative way of gettingrid of rats from a town. However, you are not allowed to harm or kill the rats in your story — youmust just get them out of town. Share your story with family members and friends.

(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)

®from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate


Hurting humansRats have caused people a lot of

trouble. Sometimes rats attack, andeven kill, humans.

They carry more than 40 diseasesharmful to humans. Some of thesediseases include bubonic plague, typhusand rat-bite fever.

Experts believediseases from ratshave killed morepeople in the last1,000 years thanall the warscombined. During

the Middle Ages*, the bubonic plague,or Black Death, may have killed abouthalf the people in the world.*“The Middle Ages” is a term referring to lifein Europe from about 500 to 1500.

Plague is not such a problem today,partly because people are controlling ratpopulations better, and partly becausewe can now cure plague.Destructive animals

Rats destroyabout 20percent of allthe agriculturalproducts in the worldevery year. What they don’t eat, theymay contaminate, or make unsafe,with their droppings.

Experts believe many unexplainedhouse fires have been caused by ratschewing on the wiring. Rats also tunnelunder buildings, weakening the structure.

Experts estimate that rats causeabout $200 million in damage in theUnited States each year.

Rats eat other animals, such as birdsand baby sea turtles. They may play abig part in causing some animals tobecome endangered.

Helping humansScientists have learned a lot about

humans by studying rats. Partlybecause rats adapt and learn so quickly,they are great subjects for experiments.They can learn to go through mazes orhit certain levers to get food. They canteach their young how to perform thesame tasks.

Also, rats are small and reproducequickly. That makes them good animalsto study as well.

Rats can stay healthy even if theybreed within their families, which isunusual. This allows scientists to easilybreed strains that have certaincharacteristics.

Rats Among HumansAthletic rat facts

Rats:• have treaded water

for three days.• have survived after

being flushed down thetoilet.

• can climb walls,trees and telephonepoles. They can walkacross telephone lines.

• can leap up 3 feetand across 4 feet.

• can get through openings the size ofa quarter.

• can fall 50 feet without gettinghurt.A rat’s life

Rats live for a few months to a yearin the wild. They are in danger from:

• humansand animalssuch as dogsand eagles;

• diseases;• lack of

food.Rats often form colonies. When a pair

sets up their nest, their young andgrandbabies may stay in large groups.There can be hundreds of rats in acolony.

Norway rats build nests withcomplicated burrow systems. They havespecial rooms for food storage, for livingand for the “bathroom.”

The Mini Page StaffBetty Debnam - Founding Editor and Editor at Large Lisa Tarry - Managing Editor Lucy Lien - Associate Editor Wendy Daley - Artist

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Scientists study the movement ability ofmiddle-aged rats as they walk on a machine.

The Mini Page thanks Phil Myers, curator ofmammals, University of Michigan, for helpwith this issue.

Site to see: www.biokids.umich.edu

Look through your newspaper for storiesabout animals and humans.

Next week, The Mini Page is about Pompeii,a city in Italy preserved by a volcano.

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