Rat Life and Diet in North America is a short film that tells a story about rats (actually pet gerbils) held as political prisoners in the United States (their jailer a cat), who make a heroic escape to Canada. Wieland updates the animal fable found in many cultural traditions, where the misadventures of animals are understood as moral or political allegory.

The rodent escapees on Canadian soil stand in for the desires of a peace-loving, anti-war, countercultural generation and the many young American men who were fleeing to Canada to avoid being drafted into the military.