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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsStarving, angry and cannibalistic: America's rats are getting desperate amid coronavirus pandemic
NBC: America's rats are being hit hard by the coronavirus.
As millions of Americans shelter indoors to combat the deadly virus, which has claimed over 21,000 U.S. lives, many businesses including restaurants and grocery stores have closed or limited operations, cutting off many rodents' main sources for food. On deserted streets across the country, rats are in dire survival mode, experts say.
"If you take rats that have been established in the area or somebody's property and they're doing well, the reason they're doing well is because they're eating well," Bobby Corrigan, an urban rodentologist, told NBC News. "Ever since coronavirus broke out, not a single thing has changed with them, because someone's doing their trash exactly the same in their yard as they've always done it poorly."
But many other rats are not faring as well, said Corrigan, who works as a consultant for several city health departments and businesses, such as airports and shopping malls.
"A restaurant all of a sudden closes now, which has happened by the thousands in not just New York City but coast to coast and around the world, and those rats that were living by that restaurant, some place nearby, and perhaps for decades having generations of rats that depended on that restaurant food, well, life is no longer working for them, and they only have a couple of choices."
And those choices are grim. They include cannibalism, rat battles and infanticide.
"It's just like we've seen in the history of mankind, where people try to take over lands and they come in with militaries and armies and fight to the death, literally, for who's going to conquer that land. And that's what happens with rats," he said. "A new 'army' of rats come in, and whichever army has the strongest rats is going to conquer that area."
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/starving-angry-cannibalistic-america-s-rats-are-getting-desperate-amid-n1180611
Beakybird
(3,333 posts)Throck
(2,520 posts)saidsimplesimon
(7,888 posts)for gallows humour.
Throck
(2,520 posts)DBoon
(22,366 posts)rats learn from the best
dalton99a
(81,515 posts)Takket
(21,575 posts)Ferrets are Cool
(21,107 posts)the kinder, gentler kind of rats.
eppur_se_muova
(36,266 posts)If they won't help their fellow rats, who will ?
rzemanfl
(29,565 posts)Initech
(100,080 posts)Blues Heron
(5,937 posts)lots of options for the resourceful rodent
localroger
(3,628 posts)A lot are open, but the leftover food ends up in the end purchaser's trash, not the restaurant's. Someone put up a video showing a dozen rats roaming openly in the middle of Bourbon Street. Edit: Now reading TFA I see much of it is actually about NOLA.
liberalmuse
(18,672 posts)But this article makes me sad.
Raven
(13,893 posts)crickets
(25,981 posts)Literal hungry rats make me worry about people living on the streets.
LisaL
(44,973 posts)mopinko
(70,120 posts)mice are the bane of my damn existence. the only time they havent vexed me was when i got a couple of rats. i dont know if they just left, or if there was war.
soon as the rats were gone, the mice came back.
sounds like a big win for me. if it cuts into the squirrel population around here, i'm golden.
Chiyo-chichi
(3,581 posts)Mice are also the bane of my existence. I don't have them at my house, but I'm somehow in charge of the battle against them at a home where part of my family lives. It's a heavily wooded area and lots of mice come inside. The only time they didn't have a problem was when a black king snake took up residence in the basement.
Did you have a pair of free-roaming rats in a house? If so, were they both male or female? My fear would be that I'd swap a mouse infestation for a rat infestation.
mopinko
(70,120 posts)it was just the only time i ever had them on my property.
wish i could keep a snake in this climate, cuz i would.
when we bought this house, one thing i knew i wanted was a brick building. little did i know. the old construction techniques used in the 1900's seemed to be tailor made to give mice full access to the building once they breech the shell.
you just have to keep looking for how they get in. at first, every hole you stop up will just make them use a different hole. eventually, they get down to the biggest runs, they become obvious, and you are done. or so they tell me.
Baclava
(12,047 posts)Maru Kitteh
(28,340 posts)RockCreek
(739 posts)LisaL
(44,973 posts)yaesu
(8,020 posts)One time inspecting produce crates outside the plant I cornered a nest of rats, the mother rat actually attacked my spotting mirror defending her young, she was a big mama. Did it several times and was basically at my feet. I don't think she would have backed off from a cat either.
SWBTATTReg
(22,133 posts)The only good rat is a dead rat, IMHO. They spread disease, can literally chew through concrete, and are very hard to kill. I know that there will be some that advocate animal rights, but IMHO, no. They're been responsible for some of the worse plagues that have impacted humanity over the years.
You're lucky you didn't get bit when you cornered that family of rats!
DBoon
(22,366 posts)Even the much maligned Pit Bull will go after rats with enthusiasm
MissMillie
(38,560 posts)though despite their presence in our home, and the presence of a cat, we had a mouse in the house not too long ago.
DavidDvorkin
(19,479 posts)SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)Goodheart
(5,325 posts)Nature is cruel.
I've been hungry before. I've had to go without food for several days... and it's HORRIBLE.
It's heartbreaking to me that any creature on Earth would starve to death.
Now back to the "loving God" thing.... I can't recognize ANY reason why an omniscient being would devise a world where for food one animal would have to choke, rip the living flesh, or crush the skull and bones of another for food, or that any animal would starve.
If that God exists (he doesn't) here's a hearty FUCK YOU, ASSHOLE.
But I don't believe in any god(s), anyway.
panader0
(25,816 posts)Epicurus
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?
― Epicurus
Goodheart
(5,325 posts)intheflow
(28,476 posts)We think it might have something to do with this. Luckily, my pet patrol is on it!
notdarkyet
(2,226 posts)We recently switched to strong plastic trash cans that keeps them pretty much out. Probably hungry.
BeckyDem
(8,361 posts)Lulu KC
(2,567 posts)Now the rats.
Truly, this is now every horror film wrapped into one but with the current so-called-president dominating the picture, the rats are like extras who were behind the scenes and now they're going to take over!
I'm going to go soak my head.
While hitting refresh to see when the WI election results come.
203 days until the election. Then its aftermath. Then our deliverance.
https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/election?p0=263&iso=20201103T00&msg=2020%20US%20Presidential%20Election
underpants
(182,826 posts)N_E_1 for Tennis
(9,734 posts)So thats why the republicans wont do gun control...brother rat needs his guns.
DFW
(54,403 posts)I thought it was about the RNC.
happybird
(4,608 posts)by Stephen King. That short story freaked me the hell out.
Edit: googled, changed name of story. Graveyard Shift is the name of the story, Night Shift is the name of the book of short stories its in.