Ugh! He is an
ugly-looking fellow."
"And he is just as ugly as he looks," replied Old Mother Nature.
"There isn't a good thing I can say for him, not one. He doesn't
belong in this country at all. He was brought here by man, and
now he is found everywhere. He is sometimes called the Norway Rat
and sometimes the Wharf Rat and House Rat. He is hated by all
animals and by man. He is big, being next in size to Jerry
Muskrat, savage in temper, the most destructive of any animal I
know, and dirty in his habits. He is an outcast, but he doesn't
seem to care.
"He lives chiefly around the homes of men, and all his food is
stolen. That is why he is named Robber. He eats anything he can
find and isn't the least bit particular what it is or whether it
be clean or unclean. He gnaws into grain bins and steals the
grain. He gets into hen-houses and sucks the eggs and kills young
chickens. He would like nothing better than to find a nest of
your babies, Peter Rabbit."
Peter shivered. "I'm glad he sticks to the homes of men," said he.
"But he doesn't," declared Old Mother Nature. "Often in summer he
moves out into the fields, digging burrows there and doing great
damage to crops and also killing and eating any of the furred and
feathered folk he can catch. But he is not fond of the light of
day. His deeds are deeds of darkness, and he prefers dark places.
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