Every year on April 4, since 2003, an unusual holiday is celebrated - World Rat Day, created to draw attention to this extraordinary animal and designed to unite lovers of decorative rats around the world.

The idea of ​​establishing this Day belongs to American rat breeders, who in this way decided to honor their tailed pets, decorative rats, and then this idea was picked up by rat breeders from other countries. The date April 4 was chosen due to the fact that this is the day when ratlist, the oldest Internet resource dedicated to decorative rats, started working.

It may seem strange to some that so much attention is paid to the rat, but it is worth recalling that, for example, in the Chinese calendar an entire year is dedicated to it (Year of the Rat). And it’s not for nothing that it is considered a very smart and dexterous animal with a cheerful disposition and amazing vitality. Fans of decorative rats consider them not only gentle, sociable, curious and friendly animals, but also literally members of their family, inevitably attractive...

By the way, scientists often compare a rat with a human - since our genomes are 95% similar (!). And they live just like us: they fight to the last when it comes to survival or preserving offspring, they learn from their own mistakes, they even fall in love and dream like people. Recently, scientists have proven that, in addition to squeaking, rats communicate with each other using ultrasonic signals, inaudible to the human ear, of which, as it turned out, there are tens of thousands, which indicates a rich vocabulary of these animals. Rats are also capable of empathy...

But it is worth remembering that today we are talking specifically about decorative, domestic rats, which differ from wild ones only in that they were raised in captivity for the nth generation (by the way, England is considered the “homeland” of these domestic animals). This means that such a rat is as smart as a wild rat and as affectionate as a domestic animal, but to a certain extent, of course. It is no secret that many animals were used by doctors as laboratory animals many centuries ago, and the talents of laboratory rats did not pass by the attention of humans. For example, for the first time in the world, rats entered the circus arena in Russia - thanks to the Durov brothers: it was they who began to demonstrate trained albino rats. And then these animals began to be sold at bird markets and pet stores, and today there are rat clubs and rat nurseries all over the world.

Emblem of the Day

Decorative rats are easily tamed, do not show aggression towards humans, and bite only in extreme situations. And yet, for the most part, society is prejudiced against this animal - the long centuries of the “Cold War” between rats and humans were not in vain. Therefore, today’s date is another reason to talk about the uniqueness of these animals, dispel existing prejudices in society regarding domestic rats and call for a more tolerant attitude towards these tailed neighbors.

And, of course, World Rat Day is an occasion for all lovers of these animals to spend time with fellow rat lovers, talk about their pets, give them special gifts or goodies and capture their happy faces for posterity. And some even hold various festivals, exhibitions and parties on this day, the main characters of which are rats, and where they try to show as many people as possible the “merits” of these cute animals. And also remind you that getting a rat just like that doesn’t make sense. A rat is not a toy or entertainment, it is a living creature.

There are so many holidays in the world! The following events are dedicated to environmental protection: World Habitat Day, World Animal Day, International Earth Day, World Water Day and others.

When is Rat Day 2020?

Many holidays are dedicated to various types of animals. This is Cat Day, Tiger Day, Whale and Dolphin Day. There is even World Rat Day, which is celebrated annually on April 4th. It is designed to unite people who love these animals.

How is World Rat Day celebrated?

How is the celebration going? The program of events for International Rat Day includes exhibitions, charity events, flash mobs, etc.

In Great Britain, France, the USA and other countries, local organizations are actively working to protect our little brothers. In European countries, free vaccinations of animals are provided, their sterilization and transfer to new owners.

History and traditions of International Rat Day

The idea of ​​creating a holiday arose among American rat breeders at the beginning of the 21st century. The date for celebrating World Rat Day was not chosen by chance. On this day, ratlist began its work - the first Internet resource dedicated to decorative rats.

The domestic rat is a sociable, friendly, gentle, curious and very smart animal. Scientists often compare a rat with a human, since our genomes are 95% similar, although these animals appeared on Earth 48 million years earlier than humans.

Laboratory rats make an invaluable contribution to science, as experiments are constantly carried out on them. Rats even perform in the circus - in our country they first entered the arena in the performance of the Durov brothers. And in the Chinese calendar, an entire year is dedicated to these animals - the Year of the Rat.

And yet, mostly people are prejudiced against these animals. Some people buy small rats as food animals for reptiles and exotic predators. And although in recent years more and more nurseries for homeless animals have appeared in our country, rats are not taken there.

And the law “On the Protection of Animals from Cruelty” has not yet been adopted, although the issue has been repeatedly raised by public organizations.

Decorative rats are the descendants of experimental animals, therefore they have weaker immunity than wild ones, are afraid of frost, are susceptible to various diseases, and therefore require careful treatment of themselves, which is what International Rat Day is intended to remind their owners of.

Every day around the world people celebrate a variety of holidays, the existence of which most of us do not even suspect. In the “Holiday of the Week” section we will talk about dates that, in our opinion, are distinguished by something special. Lovely holidays, scary holidays, days of funny professions - in general, the most outlandish celebrations that no one is stopping you from joining. And most importantly, we will tell you how to celebrate this very date correctly, according to the canons.

The most unusual holiday this week (from April 2 to April 8, 2018) is World Rat Day. We will tell you about it.

history of the holiday

If you think about it, the words “rat” and “holiday” are almost never used in the same sentence. The word “rat” is pronounced with disgust when talking about rodents; with contempt, if you mean a person (kun rat, staff rat, office rat, etc.); as a last resort - with pity (lab rat).

But on April 4, 2003, everything changed - thanks to rat breeders from the USA. The idea of ​​the American people was picked up by other rat lovers from all over the world. The organizers of the holiday wanted to convey to the public that rats are not vile animals with long hairless tails that carry diseases, but simply very smart and tenacious rodents. And the date of the celebration was also not chosen by chance; it was on April 4 that the oldest Internet resource dedicated to the life of decorative rats, Ratlist, began its work. Rat breeders believe that rodents deserve a special day in the calendar of events, if only because in the Eastern calendar an entire year is dedicated to this animal. By the way, in the state of Illinois (USA) you can get a $1000 fine for beating street rats with a baseball bat.

Who has the right to celebrate World rat day:

Only decorative rats. Bred and raised in captivity. All of them are easy to train, not aggressive and bite only in extreme cases, if, for example, a rat is hurt. According to the American standard, there are six main types of such rats:

• Standard - a rat with short and smooth gray fur,
• Rex is a rat with curly fur, most often black,
• Dumbo - these rodents have wide and round ears,
• Tailles - tailless rats
• Hairless - bald rats,
• Satin - rats with long fur.

Well, you understand - according to the organizers, on World Rat Day only those who grew up in captivity are celebrated. Even on April 4, a rootless gray pasyuk can be poisoned without any restrictions, caught in traps and drowned in a garbage can - the rat breeders won’t even blink an eye. And it’s useless to squeak, “If I were a pet rat, you wouldn’t dare treat me like that!” Well, isn't it discrimination?

How to celebrate World Rat Day:

But no way, as it turned out. The holiday is already 15 years old, but this Day does not have any special traditions. Sometimes rat lovers hold festivals and exhibitions, but we have not heard of such events taking place in Kuzbass. Therefore, we offer rodent breeders our own options, in the spirit of the Siberian “walking around”:

• Burning of a giant “rat trap” (a stuffed cat is an extreme option, everything can result in a mass fight with cat people),
• City flash mob “Spread the Plague” with hugs,
• In snowy regions of Russia (and there are still many of them in April) - digging holes in snowdrifts at speed,
• Collective viewing of the cartoon "Ratatouille" ("The Nutcracker" or any of the five "Rats" films is not suitable - a lot of gray guys are killed there),
• Naturally, a stormy feast with cheese as the main dish on the table,
• At work: handing out greeting cards to bosses' favorites.

With the advent of the World Wide Web, a lot of unusual information reaches us. The names of the holidays alone are worth it: Tomato Massacre, Neptune's Festival, Cheese Races. And world holidays, such as Tie Day, Cake Day, and Father Frost's Birthday, cause more bewilderment than admiration.

So, on April 4 there is also a very strange holiday - Rat Day. It doesn’t sound very pleasant, because there are a huge number of people who find these rodents simply disgusting.

According to scientists, rats appeared on Earth long before humans, as much as 48 million years. In South America, during excavations, the fossilized remains of an animal similar to Scrat, the squirrel rat from the cartoon “Ice Age,” were discovered.

And on the coast of Uruguay, the remains of a rat head the size of a car were found. Scientists determined that such a rat weighed about a ton and ate mainly plant foods.

There is also an opinion that it was rats that caused the extinction of dinosaurs on Earth. There is an assumption that rats sucked the contents of dinosaur eggs, because they are big fans of eggs, thereby marking the beginning of the end of the era of dinosaurs.

It is worth noting that rats are very helpful to humans in conducting research and scientific work, because our genomes are almost 95% identical.

April 4th World Rat Day: who invented it and why

In fact, everything is not so scary, because April 4th Rat Day was created for decorative rodents. Such rats live in houses and apartments at the request of their owners, who groom and cherish them.

The breeding and domestication of indoor rats began in England. Such animals are practically no different in appearance from their wild relatives, but they have much less aggression, and they are quite easy to train.

For lovers of decorative animals, the Internet site Ratlist was created. On this Internet resource, connoisseurs of rats gathered and a whole community was created in which the intricacies of caring for animals were discussed, and pets were placed in good hands. It was the day the Ratlist website was created, April 4, that set the date for the celebration of Rat Day.

On this day, lovers of decorative rats pamper their pets with delicious treats, give toys and even postcards. The best gift for a rat is the same rat, because autumn rats are social and love company, reports the portal 1rre. If a rat lives alone, it develops worse, but in families they look much happier.

Also during this holiday, exhibitions are held where you can see a wide variety of ornamental rodents. On this day, free sterilization and vaccination of rats is carried out.

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They are friendly, trusting, smart, cunning and clean. Due to the fact that they reproduce easily and are undemanding in care, they have become permanent inhabitants of laboratories. Rats help humans in many studies; our genomes coincide with them by 90-95%. That is why so many interventions in human physiology are carried out only after experiments on these rodents. And therefore the rat deserves its day in our human calendar.

It is worth mentioning that we are talking about a domesticated, manual species. It is believed that the domestication and breeding of pet animals began in England. The animals are fundamentally no different from their wild relatives, but their level of aggression is significantly lower. At the same time, their learning abilities are much higher than those of many pets, such as cats.

When choosing the date, the Internet resource ratlist played a key role; this is the oldest site dedicated to decorative rats. Ratlist, created to help lovers of decorative animals, has helped the owners of these rodents. Communities were formed there, hot issues were discussed, and animals were offered into good hands. In gratitude for the work, rat breeders and rat lovers set the founding date of the resource, April 4, as a celebration of World Rat Day.

On this day, the animals probably feel the same festive excitement as their owners. It is customary to pamper your pets with delicious treats, give them new toys and even postcards. Rodents happily treat themselves, play with new devices, and carefully... tear the postcards and place them in their nest corners with crushed pieces. Therefore, paper products related to World Rat Day should be produced using non-toxic dyes.

The best gift for Rat Day is the rat itself. These animals are incredibly social and love company. If an animal lives alone in a cage, it develops worse and does not occupy itself to the fullest extent of which it is capable. Rodents that live in families are much happier. They look after each other, sleep curled up in a tight ball, play together, jokingly take each other's toys, and are able to express information in a unique language. If the rat is tired and wants a little personal space of its own, it can go into a corner at any time and sleep there. None of her relatives will pester her. But if she is bored, she will immediately find company. This is why it is so important to keep rodents in the company of their own kind.

World Rat Day aims to convey such valuable information to all those who love these cute rodents. There are many lovers, some are so zealous that they express their feelings through unique slogans. “If you want to please me, try to please my pet rat first.” “My little rat is the only friend who will never leave me.” “It’s hard to be modest when a rat loves you.” The most touching and main motto of the holiday is the expression “For the whole world you are just one person, for a rat you are the whole world.”