Stowaway : the disreputable exploits of the rat / Joe Shute.
Material type:
TextPublisher: London : Bloomsbury Wildlife, 2024Description: 272 pages : illustrations ; 23 cmContent type: - text
- unmediated
- volume
- 1399402501
- 9781399402507
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book
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Main Library | On Order | Processing |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
A cultural and social history of the rat, examining how one creature achieved total world domination and has inspired such love and loathing.
Rats are creatures which inspire fear and fascination in equal measure. Their lives are more closely entwined with humans than any other animal, but they remain the most misunderstood of all species.
Yet, arguably no animal has sacrificed more in the pursuit of human health but also been so resolutely blamed for spreading plague and pestilence. No animal has been so determinedly targeted by humans, and still managed to survive and thrive in our midst. No animal is so often derided as being vicious and cunning, but possesses such a rich and complex inner life.
In Stowaway , Joe Shute, explores our complex and often contradictory relationship with the rat. He travels the world from sub-Saharan Africa to the Rocky Mountains and visits some of the most rodent-infested cities on earth to unpick the myths we tell ourselves about rats and investigate the unexplored secrets of their own extraordinary lives.
He examines the way in which rats have shaped human history and meets cutting-edge researchers harnessing the power of rat intelligence to achieve incredible results. He explores the hidden world they inhabit beneath our feet as well as their role in natural ecosystems. And through his own pet rats, he discovers the close emotional bonds they form with humans when given the chance.
Ultimately, this is a book which questions what the lives of rats reveal to us about our own, and whether there might be a better way to live alongside our ancient enemies in the modern age?
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Rats represent the worst of us or at least, that's what we tell ourselves. They are rapacious, over-sexed, pestilent and, on occasion, cannibalistic. But, as with all 'vermin', rats are in fact a mirror species, reflecting back to us our worst excesses. They are also a creature to which we owe a lot. Arguably no other animal has done more for the advance of human medicine than the rat. In Stowaway, Joe Shute unpicks this complex relationship between human and rat, documenting the arrival of the brown rat in the West during the expansion of global trade and how it has pushed our black rat species to the brink. Joe charts its course through history from diaries kept by soldiers in the trenches, to present day where an estimated 10 million rats are believed to live in Britain alone. As well as tracking rats in the wild and meeting experts to help unpick rat intelligence and social structures, Joe attempts to overcome his own aversion to these often reviled rodents even adopting two pet rats to better understand them. Stowaway is a tale of rat catchers, crumbling buildings and back alleys, taking the reader into a part of the natural world they normally hurry past. It is also a story of the human condition, asking why we deem some animals acceptable and condemn others to the shadows.