Mice and Rats

Oh my god, Bill Bryson. I love your writing and aspire to be you one day, but I will never write such a frightening section of a book unless it deals with flesh eating viruses. 

Here's what Bill taught me today:

- "Two mice, breeding prolifically, could theoretically produce a million descendants in a year."

- "Each mouse voids about fifty pellets a day... Because of the impossibility of achieving perfection in storage, hygeine regulations in most places allow up to two fecal pellets per pint of grain."

- "Rats are smart and work cooperatively.  ...one rat would embrace an egg with all four legs, then roll over on his back.  A second rat would then drag the first rat by its tail to their burrow..."

- "It is commonly written that there is one rat for every human being in a typical city, but studies have shown that to be an exaggeration.  The actual figure is more like one rat for every three dozen people."

Why am I reading this??  I just wanted to learn about why a study exists in a home!

Anyway, all of this excellent info comes from Bill's newest book "At Home," which is wonderful, if not a little unsettling about all the things in your home.

I had to find the cutest picture of a rat ever after reading all this this morning.  I succeeded.