Pet大鼠－社會結構/社交行為（原文翻譯）

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Rats naturally live in complex social groups, this contains a set hierarchy where a rat knows their place. A rat with a stable hierarchy is generally a happy one, problems usually occur when the social structure changes for some reason, whether this be the addition of new rats, illness, a surge in hormones triggering one of the rats to want to change it’s status or some other environmental disruption. Understanding your rats position in there group can help you understand more about there behaviour and better understand some of the interactions witnessed. Hierarchy’s are much easier to observe in larger groups group sizes over 4 generally giving a much richer picture of social interaction. The terms, Alpha, Beta and Zeta rats are often used in scientific research, as far as I am aware gamma rats are my own invention to split the normally broader beta group into those with an interest in cage politics and those without.

在自然環境中，大鼠們會組成複雜的社會結構，每一個體都身處於階級制度中，具有穩定社會階級的大鼠是幸福的，而若是社會結構遽變，例如有新成員的加入、發生疾病、生活環境的改變，或是由於賀爾蒙的突漲，導致某隻大鼠想要提升自己的地位等，都可能導致問題產生，充分瞭解每隻大鼠在群體中的地位，有助於瞭解他們的行為及互動。大團體中的階級制度較明顯，至少要4隻個體社會互動才較為完整。在科學研究中，會使用Alpha, Beta 和 Zeta 來代稱，在此我獨創了一詞Gamma，來區分喜歡參與籠內政治和與世無爭的Beta鼠。

This is the most important position in a rat group, the alpha rat generally has the biggest effect on how rats go about there daily life as well as how the group as a whole functions and feels. The Alpha is the dominant rat of the group, often also the strongest and most confident rat. This is partially due to their ability to win fights and in buck groups partially to do with the presence of an Alpha rat in a group possibly stunting the growth of other bucks. Occasionally a small rat with sufficient attitude may become alpha of a cage, more due to laziness and lack of drive in the others than anything else. A good Alpha is a blessing on the cage, they are also often hard to spot. A good Alpha will not often fight with their subordinates, though they may step in to settle disputes and they will generally win most of the battles they take part in. They will generally rule gently and from afar, acting much like a normal rat most of the time. Even in the presence of sudden changes in the hierarchy, such as the addition of a new rat, the good Alpha will normally take in his stride, with only the minimum necessary dominating, assuming the incomer submits.

Alpha是鼠群中最重要的角色，能夠影響整個鼠群每天的動向，Alpha在鼠群中的地位最高，它們往往能在打架中勝出，常是鼠群中最強壯自信的老鼠，而在公鼠中，Alpha的存在可能會遲緩其他公鼠的發育。個性積極活躍的幼鼠常會成為同籠中的Alpha，但這大多是因為其他的老鼠實在是太懶惰了，擁有一個好的Alpha是鼠群的福氣，但鼠群中究竟誰是Alpha常難以分辨，一個好的Alpha不會常常和下屬打架，但是如果它們介入鬥爭，它們往往能夠勝出，Alpha會溫柔地領導鼠群，它們平常表現得就像一隻普通的老鼠，即使是階級發生改變，像是出現了新的老鼠，它們還是會維持自己的步調，慢慢試探新鼠是否服從。

A poor Alpha is one that takes their position to extremes, they will often spend much of their time harassing their subordinates and may become territorial towards rats and humans alike. This can range from outright aggressive behaviour to persistent bullying of one or two rats in the cage. It is often triggered by an excess of hormones (more common in bucks than does) and can often be resolved by neutering the offending party. A cage containing a bad Alpha is rarely settled, the subordinates often take part in more fights themselves as the whole group becomes on edge. Often the only way to resolve this is to shift the balance of power, though sometimes if caused by a testosterone surge it may settle down again over time. It can be very hard to introduce new rats into a group led by a bad Alpha. A bad Alpha may also benefit from more dominant handling by the owner as this helps reassure them that they can relax and not be in charge in some situations.

一個不好的Alpha會濫用權力，它們會不停的騷擾下屬，有時候甚至會變得極具領域性，不管是對老鼠或對人類，它們會暴怒並展現出攻擊行為，或是不停地欺凌籠中的其他老鼠，這通常是賀爾蒙過度分泌造成的，常發生在公鼠上，可以透過結紮來解決。擁有一隻不好的Alpha的鼠群不會風平浪靜，其他下屬打架的頻率會提高，搞得整個鼠群劍拔弩張，大多數的情況解決的唯一辦法是移走鬧事的個體，但如果是由於睪固酮過度分泌所造成，情況會隨著時間漸緩。想讓新老鼠加入由不好的Alpha領導的鼠群非常困難。主人過度介入可能會助長不好的Alpha，讓它們覺得它們不必在某些情況中負責。

Alpha rats can experience stress from chance more profoundly than other rats. You may notice your Alpha show signs of behavioural changes, even scumming to illnesses or general ill health after a significant disruption to their world. This is due to there greater responsability, they feel the need to protect and maintain stability for their pack. In times of change and upheaval, look to your Alpha first to judge your general group.

Alpha有時候會承受比其他老鼠更大的壓力，鼠群社會遭到干擾後，你可能會注意到Alpha行為改變，甚至是口吐白沫，或是其他疾病，這是承擔太大的責任造成的，它們覺得自己有義務保護並維持鼠群的穩定。如果鼠群動盪或遭遇變故，優先評估Alpha，再評估整個族群受到的影響。

A beta is typically the number 2 rat, or several rats in the group who remain dominant but are submissive to the Alpha. To fully observe beta behaviour you need a group over 3-4 large with the right range of characters. This may lead to more than one beta in the cage and adds an extra dimension to cage politics. Within the beta group there will be a structured hierarchy, with the top beta acting as the alpha’s number 2. Often the beta is the more actively dominating rat in the cage so can often be mistaken for the alpha. This is also the rat who will often take over should something force the alpha down in the rankings. In a group with a good solid Alpha the main source of trouble can be caused by young beta’s desiring alphadom. Beta’s are also the most likely to take offense at newcomers into the cage, feeling their need to establish their position more strongly than an alpha who knows that he is boss and has little problem communicating it.

Beta可以是一隻地位僅次於Alpha的老鼠，或是一群在鼠群中爭權奪利，但地位次於Alpha的老鼠，想要完整的觀察到Beta階級，鼠群必須要大於3~4隻，且包含各個階級的個體，如此Beta階級就會出現，讓籠內政治更加豐富多元，Beta鼠群可再細分階級，最高級的Beta看起來就像Alpha的副手。Beta常常會是那隻「貌似」主導鼠群的個體，所以常被誤認為是Alpha，Beta也是那隻有潛力擊敗Alpha並奪取其地位的老鼠，在一個由地位穩固的Alpha領導的鼠群中，混亂的起因常是那些覬覦Alpha地位的年輕Beta，Beta也常會對新來的老鼠表現出攻擊行為，因為它們覺得自己非常需要建立地位，而Alpha則否，它們清楚自己位高權重，根本沒必要再去爭奪。

These are rats that typically have little desire to be dominant rats, they are well liked by all in the cage and occupy the position that gels much of the group together. They are normally very submissive to their humans and their ratty cage mates and spend much of there time grooming each other and their cage mates. There is also often a informal hierarchy within gamma rats but this is rarely easy to place and more flexible, for instance one rat may end up with more food than another ‘gamma rat’ whereas that rat may get the better sleeping positions. Gamma rats rarely ever become aggressive though they may be subjected to bullying or slide down to zeta status when singled out by an alpha or beta. A neutered rat will normally fall into this category once their hormones have settled down, unless there are no other alphas or betas present.

Gamma不喜歡介入權力鬥爭，整個鼠群都喜歡它們，它們喜歡成群依偎著彼此，不管是對人類或籠友，它們都非常溫馴，它們會花上大部分的時間替對方理毛，Gamma中也常存在「階級」，但卻是高度彈性的，比如說，Gamma甲可能會拿到比Gamma乙還要多的食物，Gamma乙得到比Gamma甲更舒適的床位。就算被其他老鼠欺凌，Gamma也很少會表現出攻擊行為，也幾乎不會因為被Alpha或Beta孤立於鼠群之外而轉變為Zeta。

These rats are generally those at the bottom of the pile, but more than this they are often outcasts to a certain extent. In our pet colonies we very rarely see this in it’s extreme form however in the wild these rats are often isolated from companionship and seem to give up and die without a cause. In our pet colonies it is generally seen in a much milder form, with a rat actively avoiding certain rats in the group, mainly the alpha and beta rats. They will still spend time with other rats but should one of the more dominant rats appear, particularly one who has chosen to bully them, they will leave and sleep elsewhere. They can also be the victim of bullying activities, seemingly being chased around and excluded by an individual or group of dominant rats. This position can often be occupied by rats who don’t understand rat social signals so fail at communication. They could have been lone rats in the past for a long period or been raised in tiny groups with little interaction from their mother. This slot can also be occupied by rats who just don’t understand there position in the group, often young ‘teenage’ bucks or does who have the attitude but none of the brawn necessary to act on it. Their refusal to send to right ‘submissive signals’ to the dominant rats can be as much or more of an issue than any excessive dominance by the aggressor. In some cases the Zeta rat is in this position through no fault of their own, for some reason it has been selected as the object of bullying or similar behaviour. This would mean looking to the aggressor to resolve the issue. It can also help to move zeta rats to other cage groups if that option is open to you, they may flourish in a different environment.

Zeta位居階級金字塔的底層，常是由於某些原因而被排斥在外的老鼠，在寵物環境下，很少會出現非常極端的Zeta，但在自然環境中，Zeta常會被鼠群放逐，然後就好像放棄生存的慾望一樣，孤伶伶地等死，但在寵物環境下，大部分都是輕微的Zeta，它們會避免和特定老鼠接觸，通常是Alpha和Beta，它們還是會和其他老鼠相處，但是當那些會欺凌它們的老鼠出現，Zeta就會離開，跑去別的地方睡覺，Zeta常是受欺凌的受害者，它們會被追得跑來跑去，甚至是被掌權的老鼠排除在外，不懂得如何和老鼠進行社會互動的個體常常會淪為Zeta，它們可能被單獨養了好一段時間，或是在一個小小的群體中長大，只和母親稍微有些互動；Zeta也可以是那些搞不清楚籠中地位，或是明白籠中地位，卻不屑對上級表現服從的年輕公鼠，不願服從的它們多多少少會造成一些麻煩。但是在某些情況下，Zeta的產生不是它們的錯，而是由於某些原因，它們被選為霸凌的對象，想解決這個情況，就必須把焦點轉移到霸凌者，如果情況容許，你可以把被欺負的Zeta轉移到另一個鼠群中，這樣多少對那隻Zeta有些幫助。

There is not always a Zeta rat in a cage, especially not in settled groups, however they can generally fail to thrive and do seem to be more susceptible to infections, though no doubt due to the better availability of food and human interaction they are not likely to give up in the same way there wild counterparts are. If a zeta rat is skinny, struggling to eat or drink or obviously distressed the experience it is worth attempting to step in. Short term food should be scatter fed at different levels in the cage (if you do not already do this) and multiple water bottles should be provided. To do this you should try and identify what I causing the behaviour, does the zeta rat display submissive behaviour, does it just avoid all confrontation and run. If it does it may be worth considering neutering the zeta rat

不是每個鼠群都會出現Zeta，尤其是穩定的鼠群。Zeta常常會發育遲緩且容易生病，但是由於食物充足及與人類的互動，寵物環境下的Zeta不會像自然環境中的一樣放棄求生。如果Zeta骨瘦如柴、飲食困難，或明顯精神渙散，此時就需要人為介入，在飲食方面，你可以在籠中的不同樓層散放食物，並增添多個飲水器。在人為介入前，必須先評估Zeta的肇因，Zeta有表現服從嗎？Zeta是否避免任何接觸，直接逃跑？如果是上述情況，或許可以考慮結紮Zeta。

The grooming of others is a very important part of rat society. As with most other social animals it’s used to maintain group bonds, show affection or dominance and get to know each other better. It also serves to help keep the group healthy, grooming places that the other rat can’t reach on its own and so ensuring the group as a whole doesn’t have a mass breakout of parasites. Rats will generally groom each other on the heads, shoulders or necks as these are the hardest to reach places for a lone rat. More aggressive grooming (to show dominance) will normally happen on the belly or flank and is usually coupled with some squeaks of protest from the groomed rat. This isn’t from pain as much as showing subservience and should not be interrupted unless true screams occur (see rat fight section later).

替他人理毛在鼠群社交中佔了舉足輕重的地位，如同其他社會性動物，集體理毛是為了維持團體中的連結，對他人表現情感或是主導地位；集體理毛也可以維持團體健康，幫其他老鼠清理它們自己碰不到的地方，如此一來團體就不會爆發寄生蟲疫情，理毛的部位通常是頭頂、肩膀或脖子之類難以觸及的地方。為了表示主導地位的強制理毛（aggressive grooming）通常會發生在腹部或側腹，被理毛的老鼠通常會吱叫來反抗，吱叫並不是因為疼痛，而是它們表示屈服的方式，除非真的開始尖叫（詳閱「打鬥」章節），不然主人不應該介入。

Rats will groom anything they consider part of their family, including humans and any other animals that they bond with. This can be very pleasant and is at least a boost to your self-esteem. It can sometimes be a little painful though, in the same way as repeatedly scratching the same place can become sore. Whilst rats have fur to protect them from nibbling teeth the humans impractical skin just isn’t designed for excessive grooming, however few rat owners can turn their rats down when they begin grooming them and normally it’s a pleasant experience for both rat and human. It’s particularly pleasant if you have a rat who likes to groom your head.

老鼠會幫任何它們覺得是家庭一份子的東西理毛，包括人類或是其他動物，老鼠替你理毛有時候感覺不賴，會讓你覺得充滿自尊，不過如果它們不斷重複在同一個地方，有時候可能會有一點痛，老鼠有皮毛可以保護它們不被啃咬，但是人類的皮膚在這裡卻派不上用場，有些飼主會拒絕老鼠替他理毛，通常這對雙方都是不錯的結果，特別是當你養了一隻喜歡替你的頭理毛的老鼠。

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