Colony’s Got Talent

Tales from the Mischief presents

Colony’s Got Talent

A blonde (cream) roof rat in a clean, sharp-faced hero portrait.Roofy: “Tonight we crown the colony’s greatest talent. I am not entered. Legends judge. Write that down.”
Tommy the brown-tabby-and-white cat giving an expressive down-the-lens look.Tommy: “I have been unimpressed professionally for nine years. Begin.”
An agouti roof rat clutching a piece of food to its chest.Bandito: “Behold. One pea. No net.”
A black (dark) roof rat portrait.Bao Bao performed a stare. It lasted four minutes. Muttly cried. Muttly was not a judge.
Muttly the yellow labrador in a comical extreme close-up of her nose and open-mouth grin.Muttly: “Thank you! It’s about hope.”
Tommy the cat and Muttly the dog together in one frame.Muttly: “Scores, please!”Tommy: “I have decided nothing happened.”
Tommy the cat lounging in a landlord pose.Tommy: “Rule one, no drops. Bandito never let go, so he never dropped. A flawless record. He wins.”
An agouti roof rat clutching a piece of food to its chest.He ate the prize.
Tales from the Mischief. A new sketch on Sundays.
Roof rats readily carry food off, measured in the field as nearly a third of the seeds they touched, and a carrying rat holds the item to its chest with the forepaws, which is what keepers watch them do. A ‘no drops’ champion is really just a rat doing exactly what rats do.[1]

References

  • [1] Shiels AB, Ramírez de Arellano GE. “Habitat use and seed removal by invasive rats (Rattus rattus) in disturbed and undisturbed rain forest, Puerto Rico.” Biotropica 2019;51(3):378-386. DOI.