I think I'm even more impressed that someone could touch a rat without jumping backward, scared out of their mind like a child. Maybe that's just me :).
Tests like this make me wonder about the ethics of being able to perform experiments and tests on rats; clearly these creatures are smart enough to understand a fairly complex game like hide and seek; at what level do we, as a society, determine that this animal is too self-aware to be experimented on, and that doing so would be an act of cruelty.
Note: Obviously I don't think it's an act of cruelty play hide and seek with a rat; I'm talking about testing food additives and whatnot for cancer.
> I think I'm even more impressed that someone could touch a rat without jumping backward, scared out of their mind like a child. Maybe that's just me :).
I think rats get a bad rep (well, sure, wild ones are disease carriers!). About ten years ago, a housemate of mine had a pet rat (and another friend of mine still has rats, but I’ve never lived with him) and I learned first hand that rats are wonderful creatures: very intelligent, interesting, curious and mischievous. This rat used to collect things and bring them back to his cage (usually crumpled up paper we’d scatter around the room for him, but the funniest was when he stole my housemate’s keys). They’re also incredibly cute.. except for that horrible tail ;-)
If I didn’t have a cat, I would consider a pet rat.
Tests like this make me wonder about the ethics of being able to perform experiments and tests on rats; clearly these creatures are smart enough to understand a fairly complex game like hide and seek; at what level do we, as a society, determine that this animal is too self-aware to be experimented on, and that doing so would be an act of cruelty.
Note: Obviously I don't think it's an act of cruelty play hide and seek with a rat; I'm talking about testing food additives and whatnot for cancer.