The fancy rat is a domesticated Domestication or taming is the process whereby a population of animals or plants, through a process of selection, becomes accustomed to human provision and control. A defining characteristic of domestication is artificial selection by humans. Some species such as the Asian Elephant, numerous members of which have for many centuries been used as brown rat (Rattus norvegicus The brown rat, common rat, sewer rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat, Brown Norway rat, Norwegian rat, or wharf rat is one of the best known and most common rats. One of the largest muroids, it is a brown or grey rodent with a body up to 25 cm (10 in) long, and a similar tail length; the male weighs on average 350 g (12 oz) and the female 250 g (9 oz)), which is the most common type of pet rat.[1] The name fancy rat derives from the idea of animal fancy Animal Fancy is a hobby involving the appreciation, promotion, and/or breeding of pet or domestic animals or the phrase, "to fancy" (to like, or appreciate).[2]
Fancy rats have their origins as the targets for blood sport in 18th and 19th century Europe. Specially bred as pets since then, fancy rats now come in a wide variety of colours and coat types and there exists several rat fancy groups worldwide. Fancy rats are commonly sold as pets in stores and by breeders. In fiction, pet brown rats tend to be depicted as tamed rather than domesticated, akin to when a character befriends a wolf The grey wolf , often known simply as the wolf, is the largest wild member of the Canidae family. Though once abundant over much of Eurasia and North America, the grey wolf inhabits a reduced portion of its former range due to widespread destruction of its territory, human encroachment, and the resulting human-wolf encounters that sparked broad. As tamed pets, they have played roles that vary from evil, to ambiguous, to lovable.[3] They can also learn simple tricks, such as learning their name, such as a dog, explaining their nickname, Palm Puppies.[citation needed]
Domesticated rats are physiologically and psychologically different from their wild relatives, and—when acquired from reliable sources—they pose no more of a health risk A zoonosis or zoonose is any infectious disease that can be transmitted (in some instances, by a vector) from non-human animals, both wild and domestic, to humans or from humans to non-human animals (the latter is sometimes called reverse zoonosis). Many serious diseases fall under this category than other common pets.[4] For example, domesticated brown rats are not considered a plague threat[5], while exposure to wild rat populations could introduce diseases like Salmonella into the home.[6] While fancy rats are subject to different health risks than their wild counterparts, they are consequently less likely to succumb to other illnesses prevalent in the wild.
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History
Jack Black made his living not only from catching rats, but also from turning around and selling them for use in baiting Bait or Baiting is the act of worrying or tormenting a chained or confined animal by setting game dogs upon it for sport. The dogs bite, and tear to subdue the opposing animal by incapacitating or killing it. Baiting is a blood sport used for entertainment and gambling. It is illegal in most countries with varying levels of enforcement.The origin of the modern fancy rat begins with the rat-catchers Rat-catching is the occupation of catching rats as a form of pest control of the 18th and 19th centuries who trapped rats throughout Europe.[1] These rat-catchers would then either kill the rats, or—more likely—sell the rats to be the victims in bloodsport.[7] Rat-baiting Rat-baiting is a blood sport involving the baiting of rats in a pit. Unlike most varieties of baiting, there were usually more rats than dogs involved in an exhibition was a popular sport until the beginning of the 20th century, it involved filling a pit with several rats and then placing bets on how long it would take a terrier A terrier is a dog of any one of many breeds or landraces of terrier type, which are typically small, wiry, very active and fearless dogs. Terrier breeds vary greatly in size from just a couple of pounds to weighing over 70 pounds and are usually categorized by size or function. There are five different groups with each group having several to kill them all. It is believed that both rat-catchers and sportsmen began to keep certain, odd-coloured rats during the height of the sport—eventually breeding them, and then selling them as pets.[1][8] The two men thought to have formed the basis of rat fancy are Jack Black, rat-catcher to Queen Victoria Victoria was the Queen regnant of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India of the British Raj from 1 May 1876, until her death. Her reign as the Queen lasted 63 years and 7 months, longer than that of any other British monarch before or since, and her reign is the longest of any female, and Jimmy Shaw, manager of one of the largest sporting public houses in London. These two men are responsible for beginning many of the colour varieties present today.[1][9]
The bloody sport of rat-baiting is an unlikely antecedent for the practice of keeping rats as pets.Rat fancy as a formal, organized hobby began when a woman named Mary Douglas asked for permission to bring her pet rats to an exhibition of the National Mouse Club at the Aylesbury Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. In the 2001 census the Aylesbury Urban Area, which includes Bierton, Fairford Leys, Stoke Mandeville and Watermead, had a population of 69,021, which included 56,392 for the Aylesbury civil parish Town Show in England on October 24, 1901. Her black and white hooded rat won "Best in Show," and ignited interest in the area. After Douglas's death in 1921, rat fancy soon began to fall back out of fashion. The original hobby formally lasted from 1912 to 1929 or 1931, as part of the National Mouse and Rat Club, at which point Rat was dropped from the name returning it to the original National Mouse Club. The hobby was revived in 1976 with the formation of the English National Fancy Rat Society (NFRS).[1][9] Pet rats are now commonly available in stores and from breeders, and there exist several rat fancy groups worldwide.
Differences from wild rats
See also: Brown rat The brown rat, common rat, sewer rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat, Brown Norway rat, Norwegian rat, or wharf rat is one of the best known and most common rats. One of the largest muroids, it is a brown or grey rodent with a body up to 25 cm (10 in) long, and a similar tail length; the male weighs on average 350 g (12 oz) and the female 250 g (9 oz) and Laboratory rat A laboratory rat is a rat of the species Rattus norvegicus which is bred and kept for scientific research. Laboratory rats have served as an important animal model for research in psychology, medicine, and other fieldsWhile domesticated rats are not so far removed from their wild counterparts as to justify a distinct subspecies (compare Canis lupus familiaris The dog is a domesticated form of the wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The domestic dog has been one of the most widely kept working and companion animals in human history. The word "dog" may also mean the male of a canine species, as opposed to the word " and Capra aegagrus hircus), there are several significant differences that set them apart, the most apparent of which is colouring. While random colour mutations Mutations are changes in a genomic sequence: the DNA sequence of a cell's genome or the DNA or RNA sequence of a virus. Mutations are caused by radiation, viruses, transposons and mutagenic chemicals, as well as errors that occur during meiosis or DNA replication. They can also be induced by the organism itself, by cellular processes such as may occur in the wild, these are rare—most wild R. norvegicus are a dark brown colour, but fancy rats may be anything from white to blue.[10]
Behaviourally, pet rats are tamer Domestication or taming is the process whereby a population of animals or plants, through a process of selection, becomes accustomed to human provision and control. A defining characteristic of domestication is artificial selection by humans. Some species such as the Asian Elephant, numerous members of which have for many centuries been used as than those in the wild.[11] They are more comfortable around humans, have decreased reactions to light and sound, are less wary of new foods, and can better tolerate overcrowding, though some rats prefer to be alone. They are shown to mate earlier, more readily, and for a longer period of time over their lifespan.[12] Also, domesticated rats exhibit different behaviours when fighting with each other. While wild rats almost always flee a lost battle, caged rats spend protracted amounts of time in a belly-up or boxing position.[13] These behavioural traits are thought to be products of environment as opposed to genetics The nature versus nurture debates concern the relative importance of an individual's innate qualities versus personal experiences ("nurture", i.e. empiricism or behaviorism) in determining or causing individual differences in physical and behavioral traits. However, it is also accepted that there are certain underlying biological reasons for why some members of a wild species are more receptive to domestication than others, and that these differences are then passed down to offspring.[12][14]
At a physiological level, while still the same species, domesticated rats have different average statistics than wild rats. The chief difference is lifespan. Because domesticated rats are protected from predators and have ready access to food, water, shelter, and medical care, their average lifespan is around 2–3 years, in contrast to wild R. norvegicus, which average a lifespan of less than one year.[15] However, wild rats generally have larger brains, hearts, livers, kidneys, and adrenal glands than laboratory rats.[12] The fancy rat and wild rat also both face a multitude of differing health concerns—the former is at risk of developing a pneumococcal infection S. pneumoniae is normally found in the nasopharynx of 5-10% of healthy adults, and 20-40% of healthy children. It can be found in higher amounts in certain environments, especially those where people are spending a great deal of time in close proximity to each other . It attaches to nasopharyngeal cells through interaction of bacterial surface from exposure to humans, while the latter may harbour tapeworms after coming in contact with carriers In epidemiology, a vector is an insect or any living carrier that transmits an infectious agent.[page needed] Vectors are vehicles by which infections are transmitted from one host to another. Most commonly known vectors consist of arthropods, domestic animals, or mammals that assist in transmitting parasitic organisms to humans or other mammals like cockroaches and fleas.[16]
Varieties
The American Blue is one of several standardized coat colours.As in other pet species, a variety of colours, coat Coat, or the nature and quality of a show mammal's pelage, is important to the animal fancy in the judging of the animal, particularly at conformation dog shows, cat shows and horse shows. It may also be used as a standard to evaluate the quality of care and management used by the animal hander, such as in Horse showmanship types, and other features that do not appear in the wild have either been developed, or have appeared spontaneously. Any individual rat may be defined one or more ways by its colour, coat, marking, and non-standard body type. This allows for very specific classifications such as a ruby-eyed cinnamon rex berkshire dumbo.[2]
Colouring
While some pet rats retain the "agouti The agouti gene is responsible for determining whether a mouse coat color is banded agouti coat color or a solid non-agouti coat color" colouring of the wild brown rat (three tones on the same hair), others may be black based colours (a single colour on each hair). Agouti based colours include agouti, cinnamon, and fawn. Black based colours include black, beige, and chocolate.[17] Additionally, eye-colour is considered a subset of colouring, and coat-colour definitions often include standards for the eyes as many genes which control eye colour will also affect the coat colour. The American Fancy Rat and Mouse Association (AFRMA), a United States-based club, lists black, pink, ruby, and odd-eyed (two different types) as possible eye-colours depending on the variety of rat shown.[18] Ruby refers to eyes which normally appear black, but are shown to be red under bright light. Colour names can vary for more vague varieties, like lilac and fawn,[17] while the interpretations of standards can fluctuate between and even within different countries or clubs.[18][19][20]
Markings
Himalayan rats have a unique color and marking variation.Further dividing the varieties of fancy rats are the many different markings. Pet rats can appear in any combination of colour and marking. The markings are typically in reference to the patterns and ratios of coloured hair versus white hair. Two extremes would be a self (completely solid, non-white colour) and a Himalayan (completely white with a gradual blend of colouring toward its nose and feet—called "points").[21]
Markings have a strict standard for showing. For example, in the case of hooded rats, the stripe or "saddle" should be a single, unbroken line that runs down the spine and possibly partly down the tail.[20] However, many rats are not bred to the standard, such as those found in pet shops, and will have "mismarkings".
Commonly recognized standards include:
- Berkshire – coloured top, white belly
- Hooded – colour runs from full head down spine
- Capped – colour on full head only
- Variegated – a blaze, or short white strip on the forehead, with a fully coloured head and splotches or flecks of colour run down the back only
- Irish or English Irish – In England the Irish is standardized by the NFRS as an equilateral triangle In geometry, an equilateral triangle is a triangle in which all three sides are equal. In traditional or Euclidean geometry, equilateral triangles are also equiangular; that is, all three internal angles are also congruent to each other and are each 60°. They are regular polygons, and can therefore also be referred to as regular triangles of white with a side that begins at the chest, or between the front legs, and where the point ends mid length.[20] In the United States and elsewhere, clubs like the AFRMA distinguish this marking as the English Irish and allow for another standard Irish in which the rat may have white of an even or symmetrical nature anywhere along its underside.[18][22]
Other marking varieties include Dalmatian The Dalmatian is a breed of dog whose roots are traced to Dalmatia, a region of Croatia. It is noted for its white coat with either black or liver spots-like spotting, blazes, masks, Siamese (typically a gradient In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar field is a vector field which points in the direction of the greatest rate of increase of the scalar field, and whose magnitude is the greatest rate of change of colour along the body, darkest at the base of the tail), and "downunders" (an Australian variety which has a solid colour stripe on the belly or a colour marking that corresponds to those on top).[23]
Body types
A male "Dumbo" rat, a variety with ears placed lower on the head. Named for resemblance to Dumbo Dumbo is a 1941 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released on October 23, 1941, by RKO Radio Pictures the elephant.Two of the most prominent (and thus standardized) physical changes applied to rats through selective breeding are the development of the Manx and Dumbo. The Dumbo, whose origins are in the United States, is characterized by having large, low, round ears on the sides of its head, while the Manx rat shares both its name and mutation with tailless Manx cats The Manx is a breed of cat with a naturally occurring mutation of the spine. This mutation shortens the tail, resulting in a range of tail lengths from normal to tail-less. Many Manx have a small "stub" of a tail, but Manx cats are best known as being entirely tail-less; this is the distinguishing characteristic of the breed and a cat.[18]
Tue, 08 Jun 2010 08:28:56 GMT+00:00
Bar & Bench In this rat race we often fail to notice who gets left behind. Today, we take a look at the lawyers who look out for people who fell behind in the rate race ...
