The Island's Post office will issue a set of four stamps to celebrate the Year of the 'R-a-t' later this month.
In the Chinese calendar, 2020 marks the year of the animal - however, while the r-a-t has many positive attributes in Chinese culture, it's an object of superstition on the Isle of Man!
To use the word locally is felt to bring bad luck and the name ‘long-tail’ is preferred!
The very utterance of the word usually results in immediately whistling, touching wood or crosing fingers to lift the curse of ill fortune.
However, to mark the occasion Manx born artist Megan Hindley has created four images which truly capture the physical agility and intelligence of the creatures.
In addition to the stamp set a First Day Cover and a Presentation Pack are also available for pre-order at www.iompost.com/rat.
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