I had read about this in Secret Venice a few years ago, but never seemed to be able to find it. Then I discovered I’d been looking in the wrong place!
Here’s the little scamp: a rat someone had incised into the marble column several centuries ago. I wonder how long that took, and why he (I assume it wasn’t she) chose a rat to immortalise?
Hello World 
How delightful to have (and use) the time to seek out the minute detail. A nice contrast with our contemporary murine experience in Waikiki… I had to seek treatment for acute sinusitis and the cost of a visit by a local GP was (drumroll) US$3,275.00 !!! Thank the goddess for travel insurance.
I’m embarrassed to admit my palpable relief in touching down in Australia – and I’m envious of your long stay in a place where your experience is not manufactured Hollywood style. Still, one lives and learns 🙂
Negative conclusion – ersatz Polynesia and ridiculously expensive.
Positive conclusion – Hawaiian geography is actively volcanic and truly amazing.
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Love it. Michelangelo Banksy wus there.
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LOL!
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So sorry they (the tourists) have arrived. I do remember in 2013 around this time….maybe actually the 30th getting off the vaporetto at San Marco (coming from San Marcuola) because on top of the crowd the vaporetto was going exceedingly slow (I think their strike had been cancelled) and it was faster to walk back to my apartment in Castello. It had gotten to the point where I was sure I could swim faster than they were going and since it was December that wasn’t an option for me. It doesn’t help that New Year’s day is on a Friday this year which makes it a nice long weekend for a lot of people and they only have to use a few vacation days to “celebrate” in our favorite city.
I’m assuming you won’t be joining the crowd in Piazza San Marco for the midnight kiss. Or, maybe you will;-)
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Nope, I’ve got a cold and don’t want to pass it on. 🙂
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Good girl!
Hope you are better soon.
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It would be interesting to know the story behind the carving, and was the person able to do it without being spotted. It’s pretty clever.
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We do need to have time travel, et.
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Wouldn’t that be cool.
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At least the person was a competent enough artist that other people in this thread can meaningfully discuss the exact species. If I’d made the carving, the discussion would be more like:
“It’s a frog!”
“No, it’s a banana!”
“Could it be a pencil?”
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Bun the Dali-ist!
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I should grow a bendy mustache. 🙂
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What a ripping idea!
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Graffiti? Where did you find your Secret Venice hints? 😀
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There’s a little book crammed with secrets: Secret Venice, T Jonglez and P Zoffoli. Florence has its own book, and London, and probably others by now!
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Weasels are opportunistic animals. They are survivalists! In the 1940s we had them in the attics in the country homes that my family rented to get away from the city under bombardment ( World War two, yes I am that old! ). The wild weasels came into the attics where Winter fruit were kept and took advantage of the bounty… They came in from the trees surrounding the house and thru the roof. We heard them after dark scurrying about but never caught them. I rather like them. They have been made into pets and called ferrets.
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I just looked at some images of ferrets, and they do rather resemble the graffiti, Vera.
It sounds like those weasels were survivors.
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This is great! It brings the pillar to life
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It surely does!
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That does not look like rat to me but like a wild weasel ( asothers said) or a shrew. In Italian I would call it ‘una faína’.
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Venice is like that, it poses questions and we all discuss/argue about the answer!
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Of course I had to look up Rat on Wikipedia since I was there looking at lemmings anyway and most of them (the rats) are pretty cute. Okay, I’m an animal lover but then I think you all knew that.
I’m kindly not sharing the link to the rat pictures.
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What a fun find!
Linda
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You and Bruce are very shrewed, but personally, I think it’s a lemming….
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Too much tail. Lemmings are in the vole family and most of them have tiny short tails in comparison to their body length. Of course none of the pictures on Wikipedia actually show the lemmings “rear end” enough to see any kind of tail.
And that is the end of my tale.
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Of course you’re right…the short-tailed-ness is in the Wikipedia description. I tossed it out for its mythological feeling, …you know, the urban myth that lemmings all rush to the sea to commit suicide together… 🙂
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Maybe it really is one of the Merry Shrews of Venice….
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That’s a great find, Y! It looks more like a weasel to me…
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It looks like a weasel to me too! Either way, what a fun thing. 🙂
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I thought I’d never find the darn thing, but a chance encounter with a Venetian friend put a happy smile on my face!
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You can thank Secret Venice, and a friend who put me on the right path, Susie. I wonder if they had weasels in Venice in the 1600s!!
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Half a century ago I went to Lincoln (College) which it has its own Lincoln Imp. It has since been replaced by a new one. The old one is kept behind glass in a cellar.
I’ve seen the “rat”. Do rats have wiggly tails? The ears and nose don’t look very rat-like, but it’s more like a rat than any other common creature, I suppose. That area at the end of Calle del Traghetto featured in the film “The Wings of the Dove”. Merton and Kate had what is known in these parts as a knee-trembler there.
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And, how do you know about those knee-trembler things, Bert?
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What a fun thing to find! And how did the carver manage to do or undetected?
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A carver by stealth, it seems!
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The real Secret is that it’s not really a rat. It’s a… it’s a… Oh I promised never to tell…
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I’ll weasel it out of you, Bruce.
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Ok ok – you have a way of ferreting things out…
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Well, you otter know
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I beaver away at a lot of things.
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The RAT has always been the spirit animal of Venice. Long live Ratty!
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That made me chuckle, Linda. Today, I went to take out some rubbish to the big bins near the condominium. The lass in front of me screamed and called out “Pantegane!” (Rat). I moved a trifle more rapidly after that!
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I looked this up in my copy of Secret Venice and was reminded that even today there are five rats in residence for every Venetian. But I guess the tourists outnumber even the rats except at this time of year. They should be arriving for New Year’s Eve over the next couple of days….tourists, not rats.
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They’re here already, the vaporetti are as crowded as in high season. Soon there’ll only be about one week (or less) when Venice isn’t swamped with tourists.
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Because of the plague maybe. Venice is the ideal place to do this game of finding small hidden treasures. In my two visits, I was delighted to find a few items from Lover of Venice site as well from BlueOscar and Alberto Toso Fei. 🙂
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Those are two absolutely wonderful sources for discovering the unusual in Venice, aren’t they, Emma.
I’ve neglected your blog for a few days, off I go to see what you’ve been up to!
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A wild rat chase that paid off. Bravo!
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I can’t believe it took me so long to find it, Andrew. When in doubt, read the instructions, or ask a friend.
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Read the instructions? Never. The last resort of the feeble minded. 😜
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Are you insulting me again? I’ll tell mom on you, Andrew.
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Wait….so where was it?
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Right where it was supposed to be (the end of Calle del Traghetto, opposite Santa Felice).
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I love it when this sort of stuff turns up. Did you take a chisel with you to add a bit?
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There were too many people around, John.
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But you were tempted. It is good you were able to resist. These are priceless treasures, I hope you know.
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Do you Know about the Lincoln imp, Yvonne
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No!! Please tell us, or force me to look for it, Derrick.
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lincolncathedral.com/2011/12/a-history-of-the-lincoln-imp/
I once set an advanced cryptic crossword on this theme. If I can find it I might post it on the blog today.
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And, there’s an Australian connection, Derrick.
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Yes. I didn’t know that myself until I looked it up for you
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We found the rat last year. Secret Venice is great.
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It really is, Debra! They’ve done a great job with that series. How’s the weather Down Under?
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Oz weather report: Sydney – mild, Victoria – simmering bushfires – 150 homes lost along the Great Ocean Road, Northern Territory – massive floods.
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Brava Yvonne!!!
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I haven’t got Secret Venice with me, I’ll check when I get home to see why in heck I kept going to the wrong place!
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It is in the flat!
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Thanks, I’ll find the book, then check the entry, Caroline. Mimi is asleep in her nice warm nook. 🙂
Oh, it’s good you told me, I had to stick my hand in to use the inside of the lock on the gate last night. And, Abla (or is it Alba) was waiting to rush into the building.
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