The rat wolf is a largely mythical creature. The existence of such “subjects” of the animal world has not been proved by science. But at the same time it is not refuted. At different times in different countries these creatures were called differently: "rat-rats", "rat-rats", "rat-eaters". Very often these creatures can be found on the pages of literary works, and their science fiction writers especially love. But what exactly are rat wolves?
Beliefs say ...
As it becomes clear from the prevailing legends, these rats are real cannibal rats, due to the training or coincidence of circumstances addicted to hunt for other rats. Basically, all the legends that mention rat wolves were distributed by sailors. According to them, only they helped to cope with a huge horde of fertile pests on the ship, which, especially during long voyages, caused great harm to all expeditions, devouring and spoiling most of the provisions prepared for the trip.
One of the “true” stories from Soviet times, the truth of which has not been proven
In the June issue of the most popular magazine, Around the World, the rat wolf was described in one of the supposedly true stories told by one of the sailors who worked on a ship carrying grain. We will not give the whole rather long story with a bunch of artistic embellishments. We confine ourselves to his brief retelling.
The sailor, telling about the events, was at that time a “super cargo”, that is, the person responsible for the cargo itself, that is, grain. They drove him on a huge grain carrier in the USSR from Western Europe and the Middle East. The action took place in the late 20s of the last century, at the dawn of the formation of the young Soviet state.
What was said in his story entitled “The Fate of the King”?
According to him, such a terrible number of rats bred on the grain carrier that the lion's part of the cargo reached the point of arrival damaged or was completely eaten by hateful rodents.
Conventional rat control agents (traps, rat traps) did not give any meaningful results. It was forbidden to use poisons, since the cargo was a raw material for food production. I had to look for unconventional approaches.
In particular, they tried, powered by an onboard energy carrier, to build a stun gun, by means of which they were going to kill rats with electricity, creating a real "electric floor" for them. Only now this did not have the proper effect, the rats rolled into lumps and simply rolled over the copper floor, to which electricity was connected. Rat hair served as a good insulation for their body.
Then it was decided to resort to the method of the ancient chroniclers. In this story, the rat wolf was not involved in special training. It was developed using a peculiar accelerated “natural selection” method. Just in an iron barrel, which rodents could not bite, they threw a bunch of rats caught and began to starve them. Over time, the rats began to gradually have breakfast, lunch and dinner with each other, until the only "absolute champion" remained in the barrel. He was appointed to the position of the on-board rat-rat.
According to the sailor, after the “rat king” (they called him King) was released, he constantly hunted for other rats, frightening them to such an extent that when the ship began to moor, the rats were thrown out of such a chaotic crowd that floorboards on the deck were not visible. In a panic, they jumped into the water, swimming to the ground.
According to the then "Super Cargo", the rat-rat also prevented new individuals from getting onto the deck of the ship, immediately identifying them and gnawing ridges to them. In speed, the narrator was allegedly transferred to another vessel, and he did not know about the fate of the “rat king”.
Unexpected continuation of the topic
For a long time this “true” story was considered direct evidence that rat wolves can exist in reality. But even if not, science fiction writers grabbed onto this subject well. In a huge number of their later works, one way or another, these strange creatures began to appear.
An example would be at least D. Kolosov’s novel of the same name, “Rat Wolf”. And it is written, by the way, in the manner of the old "iron barrel" in the story. Only an iron barrel served here as a corner of the inhabited Universe, where a grandiose television show was organized with the participation of the most notorious scumbags condemned to life imprisonment. They were released with the condition of destroying each other, and the last remaining, as usual, was guaranteed a paradise.
STALKER Universe
The writers participating in this series are also very fond of breeding and warming up the topic. Well, where else would such terrible mutants arise as rat-wings, if not in the Chernobyl zone?
It so happened that in the Universe created by the authors - participants of the Stalker inter-author project, rat wolves - somewhat changed their behavior and, so to speak, “career guidance”. From simple rat-killers and cannibals, they suddenly became real leaders of rat hordes and packs. In this cycle, rats are loyal to relatives, but they fiercely hate any other God's creatures, including humans.
Documentary evidence
As already mentioned, there are none. Therefore, photos of rat wolves that catch the eye on the Internet are nothing more than a kind of fan art or a product of influencing the image of an ordinary rat with modern versions of Photoshop.
And if someone wants to bring out their "rat-rat", do not flatter yourself! Your rat will not sit in your barn on a leash. She will immediately run away somewhere outside, away from the place where such a “violent experiment” was performed on her. And if she will hunt other rats in the future, then somewhere in the forest, in the field and in a strange barn. But you, unfortunately, will not know about this. Such are the things ...