The James T. Callow Folklore Archive

Belief: Animal

Miners Belief:

Coal miners never kill a rat in the mines because they can save a miners' life. Rats can sense if a mine is in danger of caving in. If there is any danger, the rats squeal and run in circles and the miners try to get out in time. If the cave in comes in an hour, or if tit takes three days, the rats will still give a warning, so the miners say.

Data entry tech comment:

Motifs added by TRD

James Callow comment:

Original BN [P800] crossed out. Replaced with current classification.

Where learned: HOME ; MICHIGAN ; DETROIT

Keyword(s): ; ANIMAL ; Cave ; Miners ; OMEN ; Rats ; RODENT ; Signal ; WARNING