S3E5: Resourceful, Respectable Rats

In this animal highlight Amanda talks about one of the most tested on animals in the world, rats. She discusses how rats have been used in labs and the standardization of their experiences. She contrasts that with the rich lifeworlds of rats who live freely and in multispecies communities. This content was originally aired in Season 5 of The Animal Turn Podcast.

 Featured: 

• Epidemiological Dividual with Christs Lynteris on The Animal Turn.
• Animal Testing and its Alternatives with Thomas Hartung on The Animal Turn. 
• Pleasurable Kingdomby Jonthan Balcombe 
• Rat by Jonathan Burt. 
• Rats! Being Social Requires Empathy by Leesa Fawcett.
• Lady Bird Animal Sanctuary 
• Pests in the Cityby Dawn Day Biehler

Credits:

• Claudia Hirtenfelder, producer and host 
• Amanda Bunten-Walberg, co-host
• Christiaan Mentz, sound editor and producer 
• Rebecca Shen, content producer and designer (logo and episode artwork)
• Gordon Clarke, bed music composer
• Learn more about the team here. 

Support the podcast via: 

• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/join/TheAnimalTurn 
• Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theanimalturn 
• Buzzsprout: https://theanimalturn.buzzsprout.com/ 

Sponsor:

Thank you to the sponsors of the fifth season of The Animal Turn podcast, “Animals and Biosecurity,” where this animal highlight was originally aired 5 October 2022. They are: 

A.P.P.L.E
Animals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.

Biosecurities Research Collective
The Biosecurities and Urban Governance Research brings together scholars interested in biosecurity.

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The Animal Highlight is a spinoff and sister podcast to the award winning show, the Animal Turn Podcast.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 1:18 Revisiting Rats
• 7:54 Adopting Rats
• 14:32 Credits

Transcript

00:00 - Introduction 

• Welcome to Season 3 of The Animal Highlight, extracted from Season 5 of The Animal Turn Podcast (focused on Animals and Biosecurity). 
• We are focused on the animals that are caught up in biosecurity dramas. 
• My co-host this season is Amanda Bunten-Walberg who at the time of the recording was a PhD candidate at Queen’s University interested in questions related more-than-human ethics especially in contagion contexts, using bats and COVID19 as her focus.  
• Animals in Philosophy, Politics, Law, and Ethics (A.P.P.L.E) and the Biosecurities and Urban Governance Research Collective sponsored the season of The Animal Turn where this content was extracted from. 
• This season had several technical and sound issues.
• This episode considers rats and how their experiences have been standardized in labs. 

01:18 – Revisiting Rats 

• Rats were already highlighted in a previous highlight but there is just so much to say about them
• Rats were discussed with Christos Lynteris
• Mandy draws on Ratby Jonathan Burt, Pleasurable Kingdom by Jonathan Balcombe, and Leesa Fawcett ‘s Chapter Animals 2.0. 
• Among the most exploited animals in laboratories. Estimated that 111.5 million rats and mice were used in experimentation between 2017 and 2018 in the US alone. 
• Rats are often associated with disease and pestilence.
• Rodentia is the mammalian order with the greatest number of species. Rats have continuously growing teeth. Beavers are also in this order. Gnawing is a crucial activity. 
• Rats are incredibly resilient and adaptable with an incredible geographical range. 
• The Sumatran bamboo rat can weigh up to 9 pounds or the bling mole rat can tunnel at a rate of 1 meter in 17 minutes. 
• Rats have complex emotional and social lives. Wild Norway rats live in large colonies that can house as many as 150 individuals. Rats suffer incredibly when they are isolated. 
• Rats love social touch and they brux and boggle. 

07:54 – Adopting Rats

• Many rats are up for adoption. 
• Rats are delightful and animal rescues are looking for help, such as Lady Bird Sanctuary. 
• Christos highlighted the historical persecution rats have faced and Dawn Day Biehler has wonderful work related to rats in Pests in the City. 
• Rats are thigmotaxic, they feel their way through the world. Their whiskers deeply shape their experiences. 
• Rats show local differences in their hunting techniques show nuanced cultural differences. 
• They help each other to groom and they share!
• Jonathan Balcombe discusses how the three rats he adopted have very different interests. 

14:32 - Credits

• Thank you to Animals in Philosophy, Politics, Law, and Ethics (A.P.P.L.E) for sponsoring the podcast and the Biosecurities and Urban Governance Research Collective for sponsoring the season of The Animal Turn where this content was extracted from. 
• A big thank you to Amanda Bunten-Walberg for co-hosting this season of The Animal Highlight
• This episode was produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and edited by Christiaan Mentz. 
• The logo and episode artwork were created by Rebecca Shen. 
• Show notes compiled by Claudia Hirtenfelder
• Please rate and review wherever you listen.