Rats the Size of House Cats Invade the Florida Keys

A species of invasive African rat larger than the average house cat has made a reappearance in Grassy Key, despite efforts to wipe them out for the past 10 years. According to KeysNet, the population of Gambian pouched rat breed of giant rodents proliferated at the turn of the century when a local exotic animal breeder allowed eight to escape.

As of 2009, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission thought the region was in the clear. But alas, the 3-foot-long beasts, weighing as much as 9 pounds, came back with a vengeance.

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Lots of Rats!

After disposing of 39,650 rodents, a man from Bangladesh has been crowned a rat-killing champion and has been awarded a 14-inch Sony color television for his efforts. It took Binoy Kumar Karmakara one year to perform the daunting task and he used traps, poison and flooding to capture the animals. He also kept their tails so that he could keep count. Killing rats is a strategy that was launched by the government of Bangladesh because rats are responsible for the loss of about 10% of the country’s crops. Source

A stolen rat?

Late French designer Yves Saint Laurent's two bronze sculptures went up for auction at Christie's last week. The highest bidder has been revealed: Cai Mingchao. But Cai, who bid nearly $40 million by phone last week, has no intention of paying. Cai is a member of China's Lost Cultural Relics Foundation, a group trying to stop the auction and reclaim the two relics, which were once housed in Beijing's Old Summer Palace. The Chinese say the bronze rat and rabbit heads were stolen during the second Opium War in 1860 when British and French troops looted and then burned down the imperial palace. Source

Rats!

"I know not everybody likes mice and rats but they can be beautiful. I think the headdress is really cute," explained French designer Charlie Le Mindu, 22, who unveiled this creation during London Fashion Week. Le Mindu’s mice and rat carcass headdress features real rodent bodies. <------ Oh, and check out the perfect outfit to wear this creation with. Would you wear this to the grocery store? To church on Sunday? How about open house at school? So - tell me - where would YOU wear this outfit to?

Rats! They're back!

The Pied Piper's services might be needed again in Hamelin, northern Germany - because the rats are back. An abandoned allotment site on the edge of town has become a haven for rats, with plenty of discarded food and rubbish lying around. According to legend, in 1284 Hamelin - called Hameln in Germany - was infested with rats but a Pied Piper lured them out of town by playing a pipe. He later lured the children out too - but the town still celebrates the tale. Source: BBC

Rats in art

In old Japan, rats had it good because a white rat was a messenger of one of the seven gods of luck, Daikoku. Because of this connection, they were not killed. The story goes that a rat couple wanted the strongest husband in the world for their daughter. They asked the sun who declined saying that clouds had more power because they could cover him up. When they asked a cloud, he responded, "The wind is stronger than I because it can blow me away." The wind could not make the grade either. " The wall stops me cold," he said. And the wall, though honored by the offer wailed, "The rat is stronger. He can bore a hole right through me." So the couple wisely gave their daughter in marriage to another rat who was indeed the strongest creature of them all. -Senryu More rat stories, rat photos and rat art at: Rats in Art (via Information Junk)

Rat meat demand grows in Cambodia

Reuters: The price of rat meat has quadrupled in Cambodia this year as inflation has put other meat beyond the reach of poor people, officials said on Wednesday. With consumer price inflation at 37 percent according to the latest central bank estimate, demand has pushed a kilogram of rat meat up to around 5,000 riel ($1.28) from 1,200 riel last year. Spicy field rat dishes with garlic thrown in have become particularly popular at a time when beef costs 20,000 riel a kg. Hungry? Here's a recipe for you: Stewed Cane Rat Skin and eviscerate the rat and split it lengthwise. Fry until brown in a mixture of butter and peanut oil. Cover with water, add tomatoes or tomato purée, hot red peppers, and salt. Simmer the rat until tender and serve with rice.

And you thought your neighbors were wierd

Here's a bizarre story: Imagine spending $1.8 million to purchase a home in Pacific Palisades, California, and finding out that your yard is infested with rats because the deranged old ladies next door are feeding them and treating them as beloved pets. Imagine that the celebrity you bought your house from knew that rats ran rampant in the neighborhood but didn't disclose it. Then, imagine that city and health officials have done little to address the huge infestation problem, and the story only comes to light when you've reached the end of your rope and have given up on complaining to government agencies, so you sue the whack-job sisters next door and tell your story to L.A. Weekly. (via unvarnished)

Rat wars in India

India's armed forces, which have been battling insurgents in the northeast for over six decades, are now engaged with another enemy - rats. The rat population in the northeastern states of Mizoram and Manipur - the two states bordering Myanmar - has witnessed a massive growth. With rats destroying crops and devouring grain, the threat of famine looms over the region. Soldiers deployed in the area to fight insurgents are being called in to help the civilian administration tackle the impending crisis. The explosion in the rat population has been triggered by the flowering of a certain species of bamboo (Melocanna baccifera) that grows mainly in Mizoram but in other neighboring states as well. Thirty percent of Mizoram is covered by wild bamboo forests. The flowering of this bamboo results in millions of seeds being dropped. Rats devour these seeds. The high protein content of the seeds is believed to either dramatically increase fertility rates among the rats or provide them with the nutrition to enhance survival rates of the entire litter. Litters of over a dozen rats survive and within three months are ready to reproduce themselves. This has resulted in a major rat population explosion. Some experts say that the rat population in Mizoram is perhaps ten times that of humans in the state. Source: Asia Times Online

Rat catching in UK

With rat infestations estimated to be up by nearly 40 per cent in the past six years, a group of rugby players who started ratting on a Sunday morning to exercise their dogs now have more invitations to farms than they can cope with. The Malton & Norton Rugby Ratcatchers, who set off most Sunday mornings from the Spotted Cow pub in Malton, North Yorkshire, enjoy bacon sandwiches and mugs of tea before getting out their terriers, the wisest among them tucking trousers into socks to stop any rodent making a run for freedom up their legs. David Harrison, who farms 300 acres on the Yorkshire Wolds, was constantly out poisoning rats. He says catching the rats with terriers is safer for his livestock - there are no longer any worries about the pigs picking up any of the poison - and for wildlife. At Harrison's farm, the terriers set a new record, killing 103 rats in two hours. Source: Telegraph

Rats!

Michele Diller, 64, of Rochester, WA, bought rats as food for her pet snakes but eventually came to think of them as ''friends'' and allowed them to breed and overrun her house. The rats have gnawed through wiring, walls, cupboards and drawers, and have begun turning up in neighbors' yards. When Animal Control officials entered the house, they saw that rat feces covered table tops, floors, chairs - virtually every flat surface in the house. In addition, the carpets were saturated with rat urine, and the air inside the home was heavy with odors and moisture. There was no electricity in most rooms of the house because the rats had chewed through the wiring. In addition, the sewage had backed up and there was no running water or heat in the home. The sound of rats chewing in the walls and floors was a "constant undertone." Souce: KOMO-TV

Animals on the attack

*****A martial arts teacher knocked over by a lion during a photo shoot at Bowmanville Zoo says she is happy to have come away with four broken ribs and a bloodied lung. The photo session produced a successful cover photo, but from the beginning, the lion was playful and not entirely under the control of its two minders. Watch video. (thestar.com) ***** A keeper at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C, was taken to a hospital and treated for a laceration on her leg after Tai Shan, the zoo's giant panda cub, made "physical contact" with her. It seems the panda had amorous intentions - the keeper was not in the mood. (via) (Washington Post) ***** An eagle ray leaped onto a boat off the Florida Keys and stabbed a woman with its barb, knocking her to the deck and killing her. The animal's barb had impaled the woman through the neck which caused her to fall back and hit her head on some portion of the boat. (New Zealand Herald) ***** Chicago car dealers report they've seen a lot more vehicles damaged this year by animals getting under hoods and chewing on wiring. The culprits are typically squirrels, rats or mice. Whether they're taking shelter from the cold or chewing out of hunger, they can cause thousands of dollars in damages. (Sun-Times) ***** Rats are invading Thailand - or at least the offices of the ministry responsible for promoting health and hygiene. In the past two days, nearly 50 rats were caught inside the Health Ministry compound in Bangkok, prompting an announcement of a national anti-rodent campaign. The animals have become a nuisance. They bite wires, cables, documents and destroy office equipment. (AP) ***** Four steer who escaped from a transport truck during a morning accident made their way to a residential area in Mississauga, Ont. and held the community hostage for nearly four hours. One steer was eventually shot after it knocked a couple of residents off their feet and charged a police officer. (ctv.ca)

I wish I knew Russian

I found an excellent site: suzaku_ekb's journal, which, unfortunately, is entirely in Russian. Ah, too bad. French and Spanish I can muddle through and pick out a word here and there so I get a general idea of what it's about. Russian though, is a total mystery to me. The photos are so unusual, I wish I could read the journal entries. I bet they're really interesting. Here's another great photo:

Rat treats

Kats Kritters has some great recipes for homemade rat treats. Peanut Butter Balls, Apple Cinnamon Drops, and Dried Fruit Balls all sound yummy.

It's cat vs. rat in NY delis

New York city’s health code and state law forbid animals in places where food or beverages are sold for human consumption. Fines range from $300 for a first offense to $2,000 or higher for subsequent offenses. But many deli and Bodega owners in New York City are defending their right to keep cats in their stores. The cats keep the rat and mice under control - city inspectors contend the cats pose a health hazard. Many store owners keep cats despite the law, mainly because other options have failed and the fine for rodent feces is also $300. “It’s hard for bodega owners because they’re not supposed to have a cat, but they’re also not supposed to have rats,” said José Fernández, the president of the Bodega Association of the United States. Source: New York Times (via)

Two New Mammal Species Discovered In Indonesia's Wilderness

A tiny possum and a giant rat were recorded by scientists as probable new species on a recent expedition to Indonesia's remote and virtually unknown "Lost World" in the pristine wilderness of western New Guinea's Foja Mountains. The Foja Wilderness is part of the great Mamberamo Basin, the largest unroaded tropical forest in the Asia Pacific region. During the June expedition, the team* documented two mammals, a Cercartetus pygmy possum, one of the world's smallest marsupials, and a Mallomys giant rat, both currently under study and apparently new to science. They also recorded the mating displays of several rare and little-known birds for the first time.

Karnimata - Indian Rat Temple

According to folklore, the Goddess Shri Karni-Mata once restored the dead child of her devotee back to life. The Mata announced that no one from her tribe would fall into death's hand again. Instead, when they died, all of them would temporarily inhabit the body of a rat before being reborn into the tribe. Karnimata is a temple in India devoted to rats.

Rats and cats work to sniff out Colombia mines

Colombia is home to the world's largest number of land mine victims. Last year, there were 1,108 victims, or about one every eight hours, the government says. Nearly a quarter of the victims die from their injuries. For the past year, a special Colombian police unit has been locking rats in cages with cats as part of a project to train the rodents to sniff out the more than 100,000 land mines planted mostly by leftist rebels across this conflict-wracked Andean country. Bringing the rats face to face with an enemy allows them to stay more focused once they are released.

Florida tries to wipe out cat-sized African rats

Deep in the heart of the Florida Keys, wildlife officials are laying bait laced with poison to try to wipe out a colony of enormous African rats that could threaten crops and other animals. U.S. federal and state officials are beginning the final phase of a two-year project to eradicate the Gambian pouched rats, which can grow to the size of a cat and began reproducing in the remote area about eight years ago. "This is the only place in the United States where this is occurring," said Gary Witmer, a biologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Wildlife Research Center in Fort Collins, Colorado. A former exotic pet breeder, living in a small house, bred the species and allowed the critters to escape.

Cicero IL trains kids to be Pied Pipers

In a curious new tactic, Cicero, Illinois officials are recruiting children to join in the town's decades-old war on rats. On Wednesday afternoon, a town employee began distributing "Oh Rats," a 16-page coloring book that portrays, in sometimes very graphic terms, just how appalling rats can be. The book is the latest measure in the city's nearly $750,000 bid to kill rats in Cicero. The town ordered 20,000 books at a cost of $15,000. One page depicts the rodents scampering in a sack of garbage. Another shows a gargantuan rat flat on its back, tongue stuck out, after snacking on poison. A third panel has a dapper rat eager to dine on dog feces. The book's panels are accompanied by rat lessons, written by Cynthia Salvino, Cicero rat patrol employee. Salvino said she hoped children will remember, above all else, to keep their town free of dog feces. "The poop is really the main thing," said Salvino outside the school. "But how do you have them color that?"