The Lab Rat : A Natural History

[SQ]

I am posting this interesting film, in case you have not seen it.

It is important to remember that although these rats are outside, they have NOT been released into the wild,
they are in a semi-controlled environment, a very large "cage" - a "8-foot wooden walls lined with steel to contain the rats, and a wire top ceiling to keep out the birds, tomcats, and strange wild rats", and they are being fed and cared for by humans
and because of the way they are living, their life spans will be much shorter then pet rats who are properly cared
I decided to link to joinrats.com because the site provides info you would not get if you just watched the film.

This film does not mean it is ok to release rats into the wild, because it is not ok.
Domesticated rats have had most of their wild instincts bred out of them - for example most of their startle instincts have been bred out of them.
Neither domesticated rats nor orphaned wild rats can ever be released into the wild.

See https://www.joinrats.com/RatBehaviors/BehaviorsReleased/

Berdoy, M. 2002. The Laboratory Rat: A Natural History. Film, 27 min. Ratlife.org)

The Laboratory Rat - A Natural History, Manuel Berdoy, Oxford University.

"Dr. Manuel Berdoy, a zoologist at Oxford University, released 50 laboratory strains of the domestic [Norway] Brown Rat back into a controlled wild environment in order to show that generations of domestication have not removed a rat's natural range of behaviours and needs. The rats were released into an outdoor enclosure and filmed as they competed in the same manner as their wild cousins. The rats instantly displayed a multitude of behavioural instincts that a cage in a laboratory had kept suppressed and soon adapted to their new environment very successfully."

CAUTION: These videos are posted on JoinRats to show the natural activities of pet rats when they have an environment closest to that of the wild. The researchers examined many other behaviors, including mating, agonistic behaviors, birth, death (infanticide), and the presence of predators.

Please do not put intact males and females into any free-range environment. Please do not breed rats irresponsibly. Please do not allow cats, dogs, or other species access to your rats without prior socialization and protection against injury. Please do not provoke aggression between rats.

 

[SQ]

Quote:

These videos are posted on JoinRats to show the natural activities of pet rats when they have an environment closest to that of the wild. But actually taking a pet rat outside and releasing her to play, could be very dangerous. Please review "Rats Outdoors?" for examples from real life of the risks.

In addition, The researchers examined many other behaviors, including mating, agonistic behaviors, birth, death (infanticide), and the presence of predators. Please do not put intact males and females into any free-range environment. Please do not breed rats irresponsibly. Please do not allow cats, dogs, or other species access to your rats without prior socialization and protection against injury. Please do not provoke aggression between rats.

and here is the entire film http://ratlife.org/
and