Nature watch, with Ron Freethy

THE recent continuing rain has meant flooding and in some cases the rising water levels have meant that rats have moved into some buildings.

Rats and mice are such dangerous carriers of human disease that we have to keep their numbers very much under control.

They are such a nuisance that we are frightened to look at them closely and do not realise how attractive and intelligent they are.

Ever since man began to store cereal crops in granaries he has been troubled by vermin such as rats and mice.

There are 32 common diseases which rats share with us and can pass on to us.

One is bubonic plague, also called the Black Death.

This is passed on to human via a bite from a flea which lives on the blood of the black rat and humans.

The victim was almost certain to die until recent times, when new drugs such as penicillin started to kill it off.

The Black Death was in existence by AD 541 in Asia and, because the black rat can live in the hold of a ship, the disease spread along the trade routes into Europe. Two outbreaks were particularly bad.

Between 1348 and 1350, one third of the population of Europe died and in London in 1655 the plague brought terror to everybody.

All sorts of remedies were tried to cure the plague and some doctors even resorted to wearing masks shaped like a rat's head, which they stuffed with herbs. At this time nursery rhymes and stories were written which referred to the plague, the most famous being:

Ring a ring o'roses

A pocket full of posies

A-tishoo! A-tishoo!

All fall down.

When people first got the plague they developed a red rose-coloured rash which they tried to cure by filling their pockets with posies of flowers.

Then they began to sneeze and finally they died. To begin with this was a sad rhyme sung by terrified children.

At first nobody realised that the disease was carried by a rat but once they did many men made their living by rat catching.

It is not just the spread of disease which makes rats and mice unwelcome. They chew through electric cables, causing them to short out and many serious warehouse fires have been caused by rats and mice.

We should realise that we have two species of rat in Britain. We have the black rat, which is the species which carried the Black Death. Thankfully this species is now almost extinct in Britain. The brown rat, however, is still causing problems and this and the house mouse are likely to be around for many years to come.

Rats becomes even more of a problem following flooding and those who are responsible for our health and hygiene are well aware of the dangers.