The Latest Rat Story.

Cromwell Argus, Volume III, Issue 144, 13 August 1872, Page 7

The Latest Rat Story.

The following very curious story is told by the Sydney Morning Herald: —" The craving for food by the helpless young has in many cases been known to prompt kittens and whelps to take milk from very different genera of mammalia ; but one of the most extraordinary incidents of this nature is related to have occurred lately in Sydney. The circumstance has no such features as would render publicity objectionable, and the authenticity of the subjoined statement is vouched for by the husband .of the woman referred to. Mrs Byrne is a married woman, residing in Devonshire street, Sydney —her husband, a native of the colony, being well known in the metropolis. Some months ago she bore twins, one of which died, and the surviving infant (now about seven months old) became ailing. This the mother attributed to an insufficiency of milk. For several days she observed peculiar scratches about her bosom, unlike those that would be produced by the child. However, she ascribed them to the efforts of the child when hungry at night to get at the breast, and took the precaution to pare the child's nails. Still fresh scratches were noticed. No rats had been seen about the room until the cat started one, which had found a hiding place behind a small cask. Immediately the rat found itself chased it ran to Mrs Byrne, as if for shelter. The scratches on her breast were at once identified as those produced by a rat's claws, and the impression that this creature had robbed her during the night of the milk for which her child was pining was supported by the fact that when the rat was killed she had a plentiful supyly." Is it possible (says the Southland News) that our respected contemporary can have been hoaxed ?