Among the myriad delights of Robert Sullivan’s Rats is the following piece of wisdom imparted by George Ladd, proprietor of the Bonzai de Bug company, and rat-catcher extraordinaire:
“They had a rat in a fancy-ass building on the Upper West Side, and we couldn’t even think about traps or bait or anything. We had to get ’em, period. So I went to the store and I bought Hershey’s bars, nuts - they love nuts - anchovies, beer. They drink beer and they like it, but they drink a lot and then they can’t throw up.” Deploying his materials in the fancy-ass building, George caught the rat on the first night.
A study in 2002 at the Department of Psychology at the University of Sidney, published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, tested the consequences of beer consumption in rats, and reported “acute anxiolytic and ataxic effects and withdrawal-induced anxiety.” Specific findings included:
“Rats drinking 4.5% beer approached a predatory cue significantly more than those given near-beer, indicating an anxiolytic effect. In experiment 2, rats drinking 4.5% beer displayed less anxiety-like behaviour in the elevated plus maze and emergence tests but not in the social interaction test. Rats given 4.5% beer fell off the rotarod significantly faster than rats given near-beer, indicating an ataxic effect. Rats previously given 4.5% beer drank significantly less near-beer the following day, suggesting a moderate aversion the day after beer consumption. In experiment 3, rats denied access to 4.5% beer showed significantly less social interaction and took longer to emerge into an open field than controls.”
The results proved for the first time that rats “will consume beer at levels that produce clear effects on anxiety and on motor-co-ordination.” George Ladd may have known this from experience, but in addition to any anxiety paralysis or the rat’s inability to scuttle and chew gum at the same time, the success of the Bonzai de Bug plan also depended on a large wooden board covered with glue.
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