LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Rats: Mice
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Rats and mice in the wild can be one of the worst pests for mankind, notwithstanding their indispensable part within the ecosystem. Domestic rats and mice, on the other hand, contribute a great deal to the advancement of research for the benefit of man. Domestic rats and mice are not the same as their wild counterparts, having been domesticated for over 100 years. Rats and mice AS PETS suffer from bad “press” with much prejudice and misunderstanding directed toward them.
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Rats teeth are harder than iron and their jaws can exert pressures of 24,000 per square inch. The gnawing of rats and mice destroys foundation, doors, molding, insulation, electric wires in attics, plumbing and sewer lines. They can chew into garbage cans, automobiles, priceless works of art, and nearly any other area or object in and around you home or business.
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Rats and mice often become a serious problem in cold winter months when they seek food and warmth inside buildings. They may suddenly appear in large numbers when excavation work disturbs their in-ground nesting locations, or their food source is changed, such as, rats feeding in school premises may enter adjoining properties during the school holidays.
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Rats and mice come in a whole rainbow of colors and coat types. Many of the colors and coat types are only recent developments of fanciers around the world. There is no one color or marking that makes a better pet. However, the English mice are naturally calmer than the American mice.
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Both mice and rats are ... highly sociable animals. They become attached to each other, love their own families, and easily bond with their human guardians, returning as much affection as is given to them. Many rats will even “groom” their human companion’s hand and would appreciate a massage, a scratch behind the ears, or even a tickle in return. Recent studies by Jaak Panksepp, a neuroscientist at Bowling Green State University, suggest that when rats play or are playfully tickled, they make chirping sounds that are strikingly similar to human laughter. The rats he studied also bonded socially with the human tickler and even sought to be tickled more. Panksepp corroborates what rat lovers have known all along: “[Y]oung rats have a marvelous sense of fun.”
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Mice housed in the same room as rats tend to be more stressed than mice housed without rats (Calvo-Torrent et al. 1999). Mice who can smell rat urine take ten times longer to start eating a treat than mice who cannot (Merali et al 2003). Mice who were exposed to rat urine for just a few minutes startle more afterwards, even up to two days after the rat urine exposure (Hebb et al. 2003). Pregnant mice exposed to rat urine produce fewer litters than mice who were not exposed (de Catanzaro 1988).
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