Rat Genius | Awesome Animals

[Music] grass why are they so smart can they really open fridges make movies do they really talk to each other in fact they end up in a toilet we're going to find out in this episode of National Geographic kids awesome animals listen carefully and you will hear rats living everywhere it's the sound of their exploration communication and domination they're nimble quick and smarter than we realize maybe too smart we're gonna test the rats to see just how smart they really are across the planet rats can be found pretty much everywhere in downtown Washington DC in a trendy section of town the rats have moved in when people leave out their trash there they are for them it's like an all-you-can-eat buffet Vivian Saab a nurse from New York was excited to move into her Washington apartment then she met the neighbors this neighborhood is prime real estate for rats it has everything they need food water and shelter that's happened back there the from a rats point of view that garbage back there dane instruct gold there's no Mexican food soul food caviar thousands of years of evolving with humans have made rats feel comfortable living not just near us but with us a rat can break into a house in many clever ways burrowing from below or leaping from above rats are acrobatic jumpers with an impressive high wire act why are rats such good jumpers super strong muscles cover their long hind legs together this gives them enough spring-loaded power to jump five times their body length that's quite a long jump and a handy skill for escaping predators jumping requires good balance rats balance not with their paws now with their legs but with their tail it's nearly as long as the rat itself in full of flexible tendons the tail acts like a counterweight the rats body leans one way its tail leans the other so the rat stays on the cable now look what happens when someone twists the cable the rat doesn't miss a beat the tail now acts like an extra hand so the rat can hold tight and that's not all a rat's tail can do it also keeps the rat cool in the summer and warm in the winter specialized blood vessels regulate blood flow in the tail when they fill up they release heel and cool down the rat when they constrict they trap heat and keep the rat warm it's one reason rats feel at home in so many climates that is when they're not feeling at home in your house people try to stop them they set out traps plug up holes but the rats still find a way in that's because rats plan ahead when they look for food they also learn the layout hiding places entrances and exits lock up one hole and the rat will find another way how do rats know how to do this what's going on inside their heads [Music] this is what a rat might see while exploring your kitchen first it surveys the territory making a movie along the way if it finds something delicious yum it will pause and replay the scene that led up to the reward but that's not the whole story the rat seems to replay the memory in Reverse so it might look more like this pinky and with hers might sound strange but it's actually a great way to learn something quickly by retracing its steps in its head watch how a rat does this to find a chocolate-chip cookie [Music] step one check out the local landmarks step two make a mental map of every object's location on the path the rat sees the rubber raft the hula girl the car the duck and aha a cookie now the rat is probably thinking how did I get here what can I get back to this spot that's so delicious it replays the footage the strongest memory is the cookie than the duck the car the wool the girl and the rubber rat the next time the rat finds the cookie a little more quickly [Music] after a few tries it's a no-brainer that's a pretty smart animal in a maze or in the sewers rats love to explore this can lead them to some very strange places roommates Marlene and Jessica experienced this firsthand so it was late one fall evening cold and rainy and I was just watching some TV thinking about getting ready to go to bed I heard a noise so I went to the bathroom to see what was going on [Music] got the shock of my life there was a rat in the toilet trying to jump out Marlene screamed and Jessica rushed to the bathroom they're just sort of like I am now there's nothing you can say you just look at him going okay now what so we went out to the kitchen and got a pair of oven mitts and some tongs and a wooden spoon and carefully Tong him out box full of paper towels you don't there there are things you expect to see in a toilet and sauna is not wonderful scary yes surprising no a rat in the toilet is not that uncommon DC rodent control received four complaints last year and those are just the people who are willing to admit it okay mr. Dean you're gonna have to get out of the house and you're gonna have to go seek medical attention okay she was bit on the butt crawling through three floors of sewer pipes is all in a night's work for a rat first it finds an open sewer grate and goes down into the main tunnel from there sewer pipes lead up to houses in apartments and kitchens a rat might decide it's time to make a house call only one thing is in its way a maze of toilet pipes we've set up a sample maze so you can see for yourself [Music] under water the first mistake can be its last at a turn the rat finds a pocket of air just enough to help it push on and up to the surface how does it collapse its body like that watch this rat try to squeeze through the tiny hole if it can get its head through the rest is a cinch [Music] when the rat squeezes through the hole the pressure pushes on its ribs but the ribs are hinged at the spine so they easily collapse curiosity gets the rat to the pipes flexibility gets it through the pipes and as for the water what if someone flushes it turns out their expert swimmers [Music] rats paddle with their back legs steer with their front feet and use that multi-talented tail as a rudder and they're talented divers they can hold their breath underwater for up to three minutes all these water skills come in handy in the sewers and they've also helped rats spread to nearly every corner of the planet in this Washington DC neighborhood the residents are fed up it's time to call in the professionals Toland Oh Taylor and Ronnie Harrington worked for EC eroding control the main purpose of our job is to control them to an environmentally comfortable level where you won't see as many like rat enforcers worldwide this team is doing everything it can just to keep the rodents in check the weapon of choice is poison but it usually only works on the rookies the more experienced rats know how to survive a deadly snack attack and they can build up resistance to small amounts of poison they'll also test any new foods with just a small bite if it makes them feel sick they'll learn to steer clear like we said rats are smart but humans are sometimes smarter the pest control brings in a new weapon a delayed poison it won't take effect for about a week just long enough for the rats to make a fatal mistake exciting for the Rat Patrol not so much for the rats and they're sure to tell their friends about it [Music] here's how it works rat number one goes out to sample a few dishes which is the tastiest dog food maybe she's nah peanut butter getting warmer more cookies the rat returns to his friend and shares the good news rat number two gets a whiff of his friends breath and smells chocolate chips now see what happens [Music] rat number two doesn't even try the other foods it heads straight to the cookie it knows the cookie is safe because rat number one already tested it rats not only give food reviews they speak in a secret language it's called ultrasound high-pitched squeaks that are beyond human hearing but that's not stopping scientists from figuring out what they're saying rats use ultrasound to express their emotions like fear distress and happiness it's the rat version of Twitter in just one day a rat can transmit tens of thousands of messages [Music] rats evolved ultrasound communications over the last 12 million years as an early warning system to avoid predators people can only hear up to a maximum frequency of 20 kilohertz sounds like this but rats can talk to each other in squeaks they range from 20 to 100 kilohertz which sounds something like this luckily we've got machines to help us eavesdrop on the rat chatter this ultrasound detector will pick up the signal our test rat Arthur hangs out on the table his friends Benjy and Frankie are in their cages on the other side of the lab first a scientist startles Arthur he runs into the tube to hide and warns his friends Benji and Frankie get the message loud and clear so they run in hide this is why it's hard to trap more than one rat if the one gets caught it's sure to tell the others we're starting to understand how rats think but rats figured out how we think a long time ago and they use it to their advantage damn guts Dean once had a strange encounter with one of these curious rodents but home to my apartment got my mail there the middle of my kitchen is a rat sitting there with a lamb chop bone soon Dan realized he and the rat were staring each other down I looked at him he looked at the bone he looked at me he looked at the trashcan again he looked at me we looked at each other we looked away we looked at each other dan was surprised the rat wasn't afraid of him at all but scientists say this makes a lot of sense rats have evolved to recognize our behavior even our moods they can sense whether or not they're in danger and this rat wasn't scared of Dan at all he was saying to me I'm in your apartment man what are you gonna do about that right I have your lamb chop bone knowing when to keep eating and when to start running helps rats survive it gives the rapp the advantage of finishing its meal in its own good time by grabbing as many snacks as it can in extreme cases a rat will take over the whole house Daniel Garcia Pedrosa found this out the hard way I was asleep and all of a sudden I heard a noise it was a loud noise coming from the kitchen something was wrong this huge rat sitting on the counter for three days he lived in a house divided he got one half and the other half went to the rat no we're really living in in fear constantly of this rat I decided it was time to confront it I went in alone tiptoeing into the kitchen my my heart was pounding sure was sweating and was pitch black it was being very quiet and all of a sudden I saw the refrigerator light turn on there's the rat had opened the fridge how could a rat open the fridge bits of food along the refrigerator doors rubber seal is like a giant billboard for rats eat here once the fridge is discovered the movie in the rats head will guide it back here again and again but to get in the rat has to do a little chopping and it's got the right tools for the job for razor sharp incisors good for 9 ripping and pulling rat teeth are constantly growing about a half an inch each month so the rat has to nod to keep its teeth short otherwise in just a couple of years its teeth would grow into a spiral that's 1 foot long the rat is truly an eyeing machine in the science lab rats take on the refrigerator challenge will one be able to pry open the door peanut butter is placed on the seal to inspire a break-in at least that's the plan is the rat strong enough tough enough smart enough all of the above pretty soon they'll be making their own sandwiches rats aren't going anywhere they know exactly how to use us for food [Music] well at the time it seemed that the rut had won but in the long run it allowed me to move on and buy my own home and where I think we're all happier now we can only keep them at an arm's length to do that we'll have to be better planners communicators problem solvers mind reader's will have to be well like a rat [Music]

Channel: National Geographic Kids

Views: 227,186

Rating: 4.6218019 out of 5

Keywords: national geographic kids, nat geo kids, kids, kid, for kids, national geographic, nat geo, animals, making stuff, educational, rats, mice, tails, Rat Genius, PLQlnTldJs0ZR56MScVzlbeucr3brcHb-e, PLQlnTldJs0ZRrorvuAXfKPCcmI3L2_7nT, amazing abilities, memorize, communicate, jump, squeeze, tiny gaps, most amazing, jump and squeeze

Id: Degcr3MO8Wc

Length: 23min 44sec (1424 seconds)

Published: Thu May 04 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/Ponycat123]

Good video. Lol that man hiding from a rat for days in his own home. Like, come on.