Fighting the rat pack

THERE’S NO QUESTION that the most successful mammal on earth is Homo sapiens, but not far behind is Rattus norvegicus, or what we generally refer to as the brown rat.

Its success in colonising the world is almost entirely due to its relationship with man. Where man goes, the rat follows. Brown rats are relatively new arrivals here in Britain and are not thought to have reached these isles until about 1728 or 1729.

At the time, they were rumoured to have arrived in Norwegian timber vessels, hence the