In this regard, we should mention C.P. Richter’s (1957) striking findings on the sudden death of wild rats. Richter discovered that after he had squeezed wild rats in his hand until they stopped struggling, they drowned within 30 minutes of being placed in a water tank from which there was no escape, unlike nonsqueezed rats, who swam for 60 hours before drowning.
Martin Seligman, Helplessness (1975) p. 59
