I know these little critters are considered a pest, and are regularly classified as rats, but at least they are busy and beautiful rats.
This one literally dropped dead in front of our house. She didn't seem to be ill and had a gorgeous coat and tail. Since I found her straight under a transformer in the electricity pole my guess is that she was electrocuted while touching the high voltage while grounded. Or maybe she just missed when she jumped from one tree to another. Even circus trapeze artists sometimes miss.
I picked her up, put her in a bag ("See, Buy, Fly", from the Dutch airport tax free shops; I thought that was appropriate) and walked towards the passing garbage truck and put her in there myself. She was very stiff, and heavier than I expected.