Some people keep rats as pets,having never been around rats it's hard to imagine one as a pet but once again I digress. This variety of rat from the eastern part of Africa isn't very ratlike in looks and even seems like it might be cuddly but let the black and white put you in mind of a skunk except that these guys don't spray people they poison them. The hairs on their flanks are thicker than the rest of their coat and have a honeycomb like texture. The rats chew on branches from the same tree used to make poison darts then lick the poison into the special hair on their flanks. Only about half the rats studied applied the poison and the ones who did were not affected by chewing the twigs,though a dog or person would be rendered either incredibly sick or dead. Now I'm curious if these rats can vomit,since regular rats can't,though I so far haven't found an answer for that question.
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