Do you know whom the French call a "flying rat"?

On bats not only heard by everyone, but at least once saw them hovering in the sky. But about winged rats? This expression can be found in modern French, and in no other. So what mysterious birds live in France? Who are they and how do they look? Whom do the French call the "flying rat"? Surely you also caught fire with curiosity. And you can not wait to find out the answers to these questions. Further in the article we will try to give exhaustive explanations.

Whom do the French call the "flying rat"?

Having looked in many textbooks of zoology the name of this animal or bird and not finding it, we realized that such a representative of the feathered squad just does not exist in nature. So who is this? The answer was self-explanatory. This is probably the nickname by which the inhabitants of France endowed some birds due to their characteristics. But who exactly? Crow? Forty? Gulk? It turns out that the French call the pigeon a "flying rat." True, strange? After all, we are used to the fact that these birds are called the symbol of peace. After all, according to the legend, the dove, which Noah released, brought him an olive branch in his beak, which was a sign that God forgave mankind. And now we find out who the French call "the flying rat". Naturally, this leads us to perplexity. And the first thing that comes to mind - probably, it's about some kind of special kind of pigeons, something similar to these rodents, which in many people cause disgust. So why and whom do the French call the "flying rat"?

The blue dove

These birds are numerous in nature, and they come in various forms. The most domesticated and often met in the cities pigeons refer to bluish. Their homeland is North Africa. Even 5000 years ago, they were specially bred in ancient Egypt, including for eating. Another function of these pigeons was postal. And this business they dealt with until the middle of the 20th century. The Latin name for the blue-pigeon pigeons is Columba livia var. Urbana. Over time, they were widely distributed throughout the world and hit even the American and Australian continents. Today it is impossible to imagine the area in any megapolis without these cute birds. So why did the French call them such an unsympathetic name?

Causes of unusual nicknames

So, we have already learned who the French call "the flying rat", it remains to understand why. By the way, besides this nickname, French pigeons have also another - "dude". As you can see, none of them is connected with the word "peace". But the reasons for comparing these birds with rodents from the French are many. In large cities, their main habitat is garbage dumps, where they flock about in search of food. And this, of course, leads to the fact that pigeons become, like rats, carriers of various infections. The easiest disease is an allergy, but among the serious - ornithosis. By the way, rodents are much more dangerous as carriers of pigeon diseases , as, unlike the last, moving on the ground, birds cover a wider area.

How does the infection occur?

Like all birds, pigeons after themselves leave litter on window sills, roofs of houses, on monuments and simply on sidewalks. These excrement dry up and turn into dust, which spreads everywhere due to gusts of wind. As a result, many townspeople have an allergy. By the way, pigeon droppings contain a very poisonous substance, which can cause corrosion of metals. And now imagine what happens to the mucous membranes of a person if they have been contaminated with dust containing a dried droppings. And, for example, villagers use litter for soil fertilization. In principle, outside the city for poor birds there is much more useful food, and therefore there is no need to eat garbage. Hence, their litter is not so dangerous.

Conclusion

Of course, being a carrier of contagion is not a matter of nobility. However, cruelly call the birds, once considered a symbol of peace, so impartial - "rats". Fortunately, we have not yet reached this, and we continue to affectionately call them doves.