Great detective work, Dr. Tschinkel. It seems that Ratska favors the color yellow, since she gnawed on your wife’s yellow purse as well the lemons. Or maybe it was just a pregnancy craving like pickles and ice cream. At least she won’t be suffering from scurvy for a while wherever she is now.
On a somewhat related topic, I often think we humans are guilty of having a species of "big brain" chauvinism- we think we are the automatic mental superiors of small creatures with less neural cells. But when one thinks about what tiny ants are capable of, the astounding complexity of their behavioral repertoire with the miniscule quota of brain matter they possess... why if they had brains the size of ours, they would have colonized the Galaxy by now! Ditto the rats. On sober reflection, I would say we're the animal kingdom's under-achievers!
That was the most entertaining account I've read in a very long while! Thank you from another person who dared wage battle against these incredibly competent adversaries.
Tallahassee got a reprieve in the last hour when Helene turned slightly to the east so that we got only rain and 75 mph winds. It was dead calm for 8 hr before Helene made landfall. Spooky. Poor Perry was right in the path and got winds up to 140 mph. Oy weh! We had widespread power outages, but the city had everybody back in less than 48 hr.
Great detective work, Dr. Tschinkel. It seems that Ratska favors the color yellow, since she gnawed on your wife’s yellow purse as well the lemons. Or maybe it was just a pregnancy craving like pickles and ice cream. At least she won’t be suffering from scurvy for a while wherever she is now.
Well, she was pregnant, yes?
On a somewhat related topic, I often think we humans are guilty of having a species of "big brain" chauvinism- we think we are the automatic mental superiors of small creatures with less neural cells. But when one thinks about what tiny ants are capable of, the astounding complexity of their behavioral repertoire with the miniscule quota of brain matter they possess... why if they had brains the size of ours, they would have colonized the Galaxy by now! Ditto the rats. On sober reflection, I would say we're the animal kingdom's under-achievers!
Brain size is far from the whole story. Animals with much smaller brains than ours do amazing things, most of which are beyond us.
That was the most entertaining account I've read in a very long while! Thank you from another person who dared wage battle against these incredibly competent adversaries.
Thanks, Michael! It's a fun battle, isn't it? Man versus Rat, may the better man/rat win.
Walter, I hope you and Vicki escaped the wrath of Helene. All the Florida and Georgia writers should let their readers know they are okay. We worry.
Tallahassee got a reprieve in the last hour when Helene turned slightly to the east so that we got only rain and 75 mph winds. It was dead calm for 8 hr before Helene made landfall. Spooky. Poor Perry was right in the path and got winds up to 140 mph. Oy weh! We had widespread power outages, but the city had everybody back in less than 48 hr.