context1: There are several predators to the false water <strong>mouse</strong> including foxes, cats, carpet pythons, rough-scaled snakes, tawny frog mouths, and pigs. However, the biggest threat to the false water <strong>rat</strong> is man. Due to man, their habitat is severely fragmented and less than 2,000 km.
context2: Despereaux is then seen by the <strong>mouse</strong> council who mistake him for a ghost because he is covered in flour. Despereaux forgives his father for sentencing him to the dungeon and goes on to seek the King. Despereaux tells the King that he knows that Pea is in the dungeon, but the King refuses to believe him because Despereaux is a rodent, similar to a <strong>rat</strong>.