Vindication! The European black rat, long blamed for the Black Death and for later waves of plague, has been exonerated. The real culprit, it seems, is the gerbil with its “cute” tail. Ha! All you rat haters out there can suck it! Not that I dislike gerbils. They are wonderful. I am fond of all my fellow mammals. But rats have been vilified for too long. And why?
Well, I will tell you why people don’t like them: rats don’t have much hair on their tails. Really. That’s it. That is how superficial we humans are. And in the case of black rats, there is the color too. People really do not like black pets nearly as much. I assume this is true of wild animals as well.
There is a new study out in Proceedings of the National Academy Sciences that looked at climate data as it applies to the question. Brad Plumer at Vox provided the details, Scientists Now Suspect Gerbils Were the Real Villains in the Black Death — Not Rats:
Typical. Why did we think that it was rats, anyway? I don’t think there was ever much reason to think it other than that people see rats and they noticed that they got around a lot on ships. And they have ugly tails. Hence: it’s gotta be rats! But the same climate data makes it looks like the great gerbil is responsible. I should note, it is a rather large animal that look more like a squirrel or a chipmunk. It is not the cute little animal that we so often see on YouTube getting baths. That isn’t to say they aren’t adorable too.
The real culprit, of course, are the fleas. And it isn’t like the rats weren’t carrying the infected fleas on them. The problem seems to be that the plague was even more devastating to rat populations than it was to humans. So rats are not only not the culprit — they are one of the primary victims of the plague. So put that in your pipe and smoke it, you rat haters!
Out in the big bad world, wild animals are, well, wild. In general, wild rats behave the way we expect social animals to behave. They aren’t perfect but then neither are humans. But I have actual experience with pet (fancy) rats. And they are wonderful creatures. I’ve never been around a hamster who didn’t bite. I’ve never been around a rat who did. They are wonderful pets. This is what Wikipedia has to say about rat social behavior (emphasis mine):
Unless there is an issue integrating rats together, owners should endeavor to house rats in pairs as they are incredibly sociable creatures. It’s important that Rats are continually entertained.
Why are rats not as beloved as dogs? The Black Death is certainly part of the problem. I hope this research helps. But I would hate it if the gerbil becomes the scapegoat. As I said, it is the flea — which doubtless killed lots of gerbils too. And even the flea has no moral culpability. It isn’t like humans who knowingly drive other species to extinction.
But ultimately, I think the Black Death association is more a result of the low esteem we hold rats. Ultimately, it is that damned tail. Beauty is only skin deep — just like humans.
