The rat race
Strange and unexpected is the surprising number of rats (and mice) which decorate the Victorian Christmas card, considering their unpopularity as pests.
By the 1860s tame rats could be handled without fear of their owners being bitten. By selective breeding to produce creatures with unusual colours the domesticated rat was becoming more prevalent - so much so that Queen Victoria kept a rat or two!
- Poor Rabbit !
In the forest-realm a little hunting party of elfin wood-folk, mounted on squeaking rodent raptors, are in pursuit.
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- Rabbit has led them a fine dance, hopping across snow-covered meadow, uphill and down dale, through hedges, across the stepping stones of a frozen brook finally disappearing to safety in the shadows of a winding rabbit hole.
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- Poor Rat !
An unsuccessful chase leads to these little folks resorting to roasted rat as an alternative dish for their Christmas dinner.
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