Word: ratting
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...game ended when Michel climbed to the top of the church to pull down its shaky cross. He fell, but only Paulette saw him fall. A little later, his family stumbled across the children's miniature cemetery, with its crosses labeled "Mole," "Rat," "Lizard," "3 Ladybirds," "15 Ants," "6 Flies." They did not think to look for Michel under the largest cross of all, the one from the church, where Paulette had buried him before wandering away...
Forty-six-year-old Dr. Skinner has nothing particular against rats, except that they have the grave defect of living for only two or three years. A researcher can educate a promising rat, guide him through his school days; then, just when the rat is ready for his degree, he dies of old age. Pigeons, which often live 15 years, might be better, Dr. Skinner reasoned. Their reaction time is like that of humans; they have good color vision, and are not as stupid as their posturing and cooings have led people to believe...
Everyone can recognize the show-off. He is found in clusters, and his natural habitat is the college campus. He enjoys the raccoon coat, the letter sweater, and the old rat-eaten loafers. A battered hat usually adorns his head, and his tie is better hidden than displayed, as it either depicts lewd scenes, or squirts water at unlucky admirers...
After the rats had been trained to ignore light and noise, they were put in pens built to resemble such favorite rat hangouts as kitchens or corncribs. There, in front of the cameras, they performed their normal dramas of robbery, love and cannibalism. Rat mothers suckled their young, and sometimes ate the whole litter. Dainty rats groomed themselves, often dipping their paws in water. Male rats fought over food or mates. Females fought off male advances. (Public Healthman Sidney P. Lanier,* head of the project, says that female rats never yield without a desperate battle against larger or multiple suitors...
...watching and photographing rats, Public Healthmen learned many things which they hope can be used as anti-rat measures. For example, when the food supply decreases, rats devour each other. This fact emphasizes the value of cleaning up tidbits that rats like to eat, says Lanier. Another observation, which may come in handy when PHS shows its movies to audiences: rats appear highly susceptible to emotional upsets. Repeated frights shorten their lives, e.g., insistent, inescapable noises, such as tapping on glass, can drive a rat to death...