Rat Invasion

[Deepwater6]

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=9273984

 

What is it about rats that make most of us shutter at the sight of them? When I was a child my great-grandfather got so friendly with chipmonks and squirrels in his backyard they would all but eat out of his hand. Don't think anyone would want to do that with a rat. There are similar sized animals out there, but rats seem to be the ones that freak us out the most. :o

 

I'm not sure if it has always been this way or if it's just started when we discovered that rats can be a carrier of diseases. Either way, they are a tough little rodent. Surviving in the bilges of wooden ships for weeks while they crossed the Atlantic. Add to that, the human race has been trying to eradicate them from the face of the Earth for as long as I can remember. Yet the population seems to grow and grow.

Edited October 4, 2013 by Deepwater6

[JMJones0424]

But they taste great!

 

I think it's important to try to not confuse cultural norms with biological tendencies. Not everyone shutters at the sight of rats. They are typically competitors for food, though, so it makes sense to control their population. Rats are sacred at the Karni Mata Temple and are a food source in many parts of the world.

[CraigD]

What is it about rats that make most of us shutter at the sight of them? When I was a child my great-grandfather got so friendly with chipmonks and squirrels in his backyard they would all but eat out of his hand. Don't think anyone would want to do that with a rat. There are similar sized animals out there, but rats seem to be the ones that freak us out the most. :o

I kept about 10 pet rats for the few years of their short lifespans, and during that time, saw about 100 people interact with them. Although some of these folk seemed slightly freaked out, most seemed to find them very cute, and wanted to handle and play with them.

 

I think what make us shudder is not the innate appearance of a rat – if kept in a clean habitat, they’re rather pretty, especially mine, which had a mix of ordinary looking brow/grey furred and white with black-spot ones that looked a bit like little cows – but encountering wild rats, especially large numbers of them.

 

My pet rats were docile and friendly. The only incidents of biting we had were when people ignored warning not to poke fingers through cage bars – since they were accustom to being given food treats (usually little carrots) this way, and have poor eyesight, sticking a finger smelling of carrot through their bars sometime earned the poker in a quick, but painful and bloody, nip.

 

Wild rats can be amazingly brave and aggressive – I had one hold his ground against me, chattering and hopping threateningly when I tried to drive him from some tasty trash. I’ve seen hundreds of them after dark in Meridian (AKA Malcolm X) park in Washington DC, and although they didn’t act threaten toward me, my awareness that if they had been really hungry, they could have swarmed and eaten me, filled me with mortal dread.

 

I’ve also had some great laughs from wild rat antics. My favorite came watching a DC policeman toss cheese puffs to some squirrels – who appeared not to like them – then recoil in horror moments later as a couple of rats – who appeared to like them well – scurried from beneath a nearby shrub and made quick work of them. :)

 

Despite being pretty similar to rats, wild squirrels somehow manage to come across to most people as cute and food-worthy. My guess is the difference in attitude is due to the bushy vs. scaly tails, and the bigger, less beady eyes, which has at its psychic roots looking more like a human infant, arguable to model from which all impressions of cuteness derive.

[Racoon]

Rats also have significance in Chinese Mythology and Kung-Fu.

Rat is one of the 12 animal years..

My old kung-fu instructor was a Rat. as in Born year of the rat.

 

They can be nice little pets, or vicious little creatures.

What they lack in size they make up for in numbers.

 

I'm not stating anything that everyone doesn't already know, But I had a few pet rats years ago.. They are nice when treated nice. Even have a little personality

 

 

Pretty amazing example of reproduction and survival mechanisms..

Should be said that Rats will outlive Humankind. :blink:

Edited October 6, 2013 by Racoon

[LaurieAG]

Should be said that Rats will outlive Humankind. :blink:

Especially the two legged ones!

 

Don't forget about native marsupials. In my area we have large marsupials that look almost exactly like rats with the difference being that their noses are more rounded (not as pointy) and when they run they hop as opposed to scurrying.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsupial_mice

[Deepwater6]

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/11/poison-resistant-rats-spreading-across-u-k/

 

Came across this today on ABC News. It's about rats becoming resistant to poisons.