Special Sub-Topic: Rodents in Popular Culture Click Here To Play: Rodents in Popular Culture

The character "Ratty" from "The Wind in the Willows" was not in fact a rat. What was he?

A Water Vole. Technically, "Ratty" was a European Water Vole, a species that resembles a rat, and is often informally referred to as a "water rat". Most water voles live about 5 months, and do not survive through the winter. This may be why Ratty was such a miserable beggar.

My favourite rodent cartoon character of all time has to be Secret Squirrel, the Hanna Barbera secret agent who could both solve crimes and store nuts in his jowls. But what was the name of his sidekick?

Morocco Mole. Apparently the Secret Squirrel I knew as a boy was updated for a new show made in the early 1990s. This sounds like the whole Scrappy Doo debacle all over again.

Which of the following characters is NOT in fact a rodent?

Bugs Bunny. Some interesting facts: 1. Contrary to common belief, rabbits are not rodents. They are something else. 2. Rabbits can easily be distinguished from Hares because rabbits are altricial. 3. Gordon the Gopher and Kevin the Gerbil are British puppet characters from the 1980s and 90s. If you don't know, don't ask.

True or false: The character "Gopher" from Winnie the Pooh does not appear in the original books by AA Milne.

t. The character was invented for the Disney films, which were nevertheless very good in my opinion. I still cry when Christopher Robin goes off to school.

Chip and Dale are the loveable (or annoying, depending on your point of view) chipmunks created by Disney. However, many non-English speaking children do not know them by these names. Which of the following is NOT a name given to them in at least one country?

Chippen und Daleschruben. "Knabbel en Babbel" comes from the Netherlands, "Sanjub wa Sanjoob" from Arabic and "Piff och Puff" from Sweden. The names "Chip n Dale" were chosen to form a clever pun on the name of the 18th century Yorkshire-based furniture designer, Thomas Chippendale. Similarly, "Cruella de Vil" is a play on the words "Cruel" and "Devil", "Eega Beeava" is a pun on "Eager Beaver", and Donald Duck is a duck called Donald.

In the Canadian children's show "Tales from the Riverbank", what was the name of the hamster?

Hammy. Other rodent characters from the series included "Roderick the Rat" (sometimes alternatively called "Matty Mouse") and GP the Guinea Pig. As if this were not enough, there were non-rodent characters as well, including a turtle, a frog and a rabbit. Our cup runneth over.

Beavers are surprisingly common characters in television, film and literature. However, only one of the following features an actual beaver as a major character. Which one?

The Angry Beavers. Don't ask me. I haven't watched it.

Who was Danger Mouse's arch-enemy, and what sort of creature was he?

Baron Greenback, a toad. Danger Mouse was created in Britain and exported to America. And in return we got Barney the dinosaur. Thanks.

"The Secret of NIMH" is a very popular rodent-based cartoon film from 1982. But a NiMH is also a type of battery. In the latter context, what is "NiMH" short for?

Nickel Metal Hydride. I've done it again, haven't I? It seemed a promising idea for a quiz but I've run out of steam. Ah well, nearly done.

In Douglas Adams's "The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy", what form of rodent is the smartest creature in the universe?

Mice. Did you see the film? Oooh, wasn't it awful?