rats

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Brown Rats Arrived in America Earlier Than Thought

They have since become the dominant rat of the nation, as a new study explains

(Newser) - Brown rats are the undisputed winners of the real rat race. New research suggests that they crawled off ships arriving in North America earlier than previously thought and out-competed rodent rivals, per the AP . It didn't take long for them to push aside the black rats that had likely...

He Was Bitten by a Toilet Rat. 18 Days Later, He Was in the ICU

The animal definitely didn't have a clean mouth

(Newser) - In a study that's not for the squeamish, doctors have determined that a man who became very ill after being bitten by a rat in his toilet was infected by bacteria in rat urine that was in the rat's mouth. According to the study published in the Canadian ...

New Orleans Police Chief: 'Rats Are Eating Our Marijuana'

Department to relocate from rodent-infested building lacking air conditioning, elevators

(Newser) - New Orleans' police chief pleaded for a new building to serve as police headquarters on Monday, summing up her case in just two sentences. "The rats are eating our marijuana. They're all high," Anne Kirkpatrick testified during a meeting of the city's criminal justice committee, eliciting...

Australian Town Battles a Literal Sea of Rats
On the Day the Rats Arrived,
He Filled 18 Bags With Bodies
in case you missed it
Dec 3, 2023 7:00 AM CST

On the Day the Rats Arrived, He Filled 18 Bags With Bodies

An Australian town is suffering from a plague of long-haired rats

(Newser) - "It is still livable," says a local official, but after reading about the situation in the Australian town of Karumba, you might disagree. It, along with other towns in Western Queensland, is suffering from an invasion of long-haired rats. NPR reports that healthy rainfall led to a boom...

Rats Have Imaginations, Too


Rats Have
Imaginations,
Just Like
We Do
new study
Nov 6, 2023 10:10 AM CST

Rats Have Imaginations, Just Like We Do

Study has wide-ranging implications, and not just for rodents

(Newser) - Humans aren't the only creatures in the animal kingdom with imaginations, a new study suggests. It seems that rats are in the club, too, reports Scientific American . In a series of remarkable experiments, researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Virginia concluded that rats are capable of visualizing...

Meet Public Enemy No. 1 in New Zealand
New Zealand
Is Waging War
With This Guy
longform
Jul 1, 2023 4:33 PM CDT

New Zealand Is Waging War With This Guy

Island nation aims to eradicate rats by 2050 to save its native birds, and the BBC assesses its progress

(Newser) - Seven years ago, New Zealand passed a law declaring that it aimed to eradicate rats by the year 2050, with the idea of saving its native birds. With 27 years to go until the deadline, the BBC checks in on how things are going, and it sounds a little exhausting,...

UK Quietly Does 180 on Animal Testing of Makeup

Government apparently reversed its stance in 2019, after decades-long ban

(Newser) - The UK government had banned the testing of makeup ingredients on animals for more than two decades when it quietly reversed its stance in 2019. It began issuing licenses for animal testing of cosmetic ingredients in line with European Union rules, which don't allow animal testing to determine whether...

NYC Will Pay Up to $170K for 'Somewhat Bloodthirsty' Rat Czar
NYC Mayor: 'The Rats
Are Going to Hate Kathy'
UPDATED
Apr 13, 2023 3:10 PM CDT

NYC Mayor: 'The Rats Are Going to Hate Kathy'

Kathleen Corradi promises 'no more dirty curbs'

(Newser) - New York City officially has a rat czar. Kathleen Corradi was named Wednesday as the city's first-ever director of rodent mitigation—a well-paying gig. Corradi, who previously served as the Queens director of space planning in the city's education department, will earn $155,000 per year, Mayor Eric...

Rat-Hating NYC Mayor Fined Over Rats at His Property

Eric Adams appeared before his own employee to contest $330 fine

(Newser) - New York City Mayor Eric Adams is a well-known hater of rats. In October, amid rising complaints about rats, the city announced plans to push back the time residents are allowed to put out their garbage bins on trash night in an effort to deter the rodents; just days ago,...

Fearless Schoolkids Catch, Kill 600 Rats

They want to help rid their New Zealand island of the bird-killing predators

(Newser) - A grinning girl holding the tail of a sizable dangling rat: It's photo evidence of an unusual competition at a New Zealand school, where students hunted down and took out rats in a 100-day effort to help safeguard the local bird population. The local Environment Trust gave traps made...

Congrats, NYC: You're Not the 'Rattiest' City in America

Chicago takes that honor in rankings by Orkin pest control company; the Big Apple comes in 2nd

(Newser) - Think "rats in the city," and many people are likely to envision the rodents who creep around in the Big Apple's alleyways and subway system. It's not New York City, though, but Chicago atop Orkin's list of the "rattiest" cities in America. USA Today...

New York City to Take Drastic Measure Over Rats

Time when trash can be left on curb will be pushed back 4 hours to 8pm

(Newser) - "I want to be clear: The rats are absolutely going to hate this announcement," Jessica Tisch, New York City's sanitation commissioner, said this week. "But the rats don't run the city. We do." The city, facing a massive increase in complaints about rats, plans...

Family Dollar's Rat Problem Just Got Bigger

Arkansas is suing the chain over yearslong infestation at distribution warehouse

(Newser) - Earlier this year it emerged that Family Dollar had a problem with rats . Now the discount chain has a related problem with a bigger foe—the attorney general of Arkansas. The state's Leslie Rutledge filed suit against Family Dollar last week over the previously revealed rat infestation at a...

'Unacceptable' Visitors at Family Dollar Site Lead to Closures, Recall

Rat infestation at Ark. distribution center forces 400-plus stores to close in South, product recall

(Newser) - Bad news if you're a regular at Family Dollar and you're in the South: Chances are, a location near you may be shuttered temporarily after a rat infestation at an Arkansas distribution warehouse. The Washington Post reports that 404 stores in six states—Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri,...

He's Helped 'Save Many Lives.' He's Also a Rat
Retired 'HeroRAT'
Dies at Age 8
UPDATED
Jan 11, 2022 11:00 AM CST

Retired 'HeroRAT' Dies at Age 8

Magawa sniffed out land mines in Cambodia until punching his last time card last year

(Newser) - Update: "A hero is laid to rest." So read the announcement Tuesday on the death of Magawa, the rat that became a legend in Cambodia for his award-winning work in sniffing out land mines. Belgian charity Apopo notes in its release that Magawa, 8, had seemed in generally...

Rat Poison Is a Menace, and Shockingly Easy to Buy

EPA rules don't cover ecommerce

(Newser) - Rats give us plenty of grief. They can cause outbreaks of diseases ranging from scrub typhus to leptospirosis and their urine and feces are thought to render a fifth of the world's food supply unusable. As Chris Sweeney writes in a lengthy piece for Audubon Magazine , second-generation anticoagulants are...

1K Cats Descend on Chicago to Take Down Its Rats

Hundreds of feral felines released by animal shelter to deal with city's rodent problem

(Newser) - Chicago has a rodent problem—one so bad the city has been deemed the "rattiest city" in the nation for the last six years. One local animal shelter has been hard at work combating the issue, using a rather low-tech method: It releases hundreds of feral cats onto the...

They Killed the Rats of 'Rat Island,' With Unexpected Results

Study finds the full ecosystem has fully recovered

(Newser) - The name "Rat Island" has persisted for decades, but it 2012 it was officially done away with , and for good reason. The rats are gone. Popular Science dives into how that came to be and what the longer-term results have been via a March study published in Nature Scientific ...

Report: Chipotle Workers Stomped on Dozens of Rats

Employees at the Upper West Side location say the issue started over the summer

(Newser) - You know it's 2020 when ... the rats have commandeered a Chipotle. That's apparently the situation on New York's Upper West side, where employees tell the New York Post rats forced a shut-down of a Chipotle location after a months-long saga. As they tell it, the rats first...

He Was Waiting for a Bus in NYC. Then, a Horrifying Plunge

Leonard Shoulders is 'traumatized' after falling into sinkhole full of rats in the Bronx

(Newser) - Yes, 2020 has been a disaster so far, but at least for most of us, "sinkhole full of rats" wasn't also part of the narrative. Leonard Shoulders, however, can't say the same. The Guardian notes that although New York City is "used to tall tales of...

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