| "Those tales of great rodent nations marching into battle are pure myth, ratologists say, but no one really knows the rat’s full capabilities. Surely there are many stories of rat cooperation and even compassion. A good example is the famous Rattenkonig or "rat king". Young rats close to one another in the nest sometimes get their tails entangled and become a living Gordian knot glued together by dirt encrusted wounds and the like. When they try to pull apart the tails are pulled tight, and the knots strengthen, knitting the rats together. As many as 32 rats are trapped in these knots and have died as a result of being unable to forage for themselves. However, they are often unselfishly fed for life by other family members." (2) |
(1) From the Wunderkammen's collection of snowballs: Black Rat with Human Infant under Red Snow, UnCr, 1996.
(2) More Cunning than Man: a social history of rats and men; Robert Hendrickson; Dorset Press, New York; pp. 92 - 93.
Steve Lewis, 1997. 
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