rats

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Rodent Rights Activists Face Uphill Climb

Animal campaigners seek a better quality of life for lab rats

(Newser) - Activists have managed to improve the lives of many animals in recent years, but they've met indifference when it comes to getting a better deal for rodents, the Wall Street Journal reports. Rats and mice make up 90% of the animals used in research in the US, say advocates, but...

Pesticide-Busting Brit Super Rats Spark Health Concerns

(Newser) - Britain's surging rat population is becoming immune to common poisons, spurring public heath concerns and calls for stronger pesticides, reports the Guardian. Rodents in at least two towns are impervious to normal control methods. In addition, years of mild winters and wet summers have boosted vermin populations by 66% in...

German Politician: Let the Poor Catch Rats

Advocates for poor squeal about Dickensian plan

(Newser) - One German politician has a solution to help Berlin's poor: let them catch the rats that are plaguing the city. "People who collect bottles could get one euro [$1.40] for every dead rat," he cheerfully explained. But the Dickensian plan, which may be officially introduced today, wasn't...

Man's New Best Friend: Rats Ferret Out Land Mines, TB

(Newser) - Move over, Rover: Man has a new best friend that is helping to combat two scourges plaguing the developing world. Rats, normally reviled as filthy vermin, are sniffing out land mines and detecting tuberculosis bacteria. "Rats are usually considered pests or enemies of humanity,” said one Mozambican handler,...

Rats Plague Pied Piper City
 Rats Plague Pied Piper City 
Nov 20, 2008 1:52 AM CST

Rats Plague Pied Piper City

Infestation threatens to spoil anniversary

(Newser) - The 725th anniversary of the Pied Piper's legendary removal of rats from the German town of Hamelin could be spoiled by—wait for it—rats. The rodents have infested an empty lot the size of a soccer field close to the picturesque medieval town. Rather than hire another piper, authorities...

Stress Pushes Animals to Binge, Too

House pets feel human worries; lab animals turn to high-fat treats

(Newser) - Animals get stressed out just like humans, and they even cope anthropomorphically, binging on sweet, fatty foods, LiveScience reports. What’s more, animals can read our misgivings and take on that stress themselves. “The more intelligent an animal is, the more psychological stress it can undergo,” one veterinarian...

Palin's Parents Pitched in Post-9/11—Trapping Rats

(Newser) - More than 6 years before Sarah Palin visited ground zero as the Republican VP nominee, her parents were there as part of the response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks—trapping rats. Chuck and Sally Heath have been part-time Department of Agriculture wildlife specialists for 15 years, trapping or killing...

Cambodia's Food Crisis Fix? Eat Rats

And they think more of the world should too

(Newser) - Food prices have rocketed so high in Cambodia that even the humblest of foods has seen its price quadruple this year. That humblest of foods is rat meat, and it’s going up precisely because so many Cambodians can’t afford any other meat, the Guardian reports. Rats have been...

Indian State Recommends Eating Rats

Adding rodents to menu pushed as solution to food crisis

(Newser) - Faced with high food prices and ebbing grain reserves, officials in the Indian state of Bihar have endorsed the consumption of rats, Reuters reports. The state government sees the strategy as a way to reduce the pest population as well as curb the demand for grain, and has even proposed...

Botox May Move from Face to Brain
Botox May
Move from
Face to Brain
Apr 3, 2008 10:23 AM CDT

Botox May Move from Face to Brain

Anti-wrinkle toxin traveled to rats' central nervous system

(Newser) - Botox can spread from the face to the brain, scientists who injected rats with the anti-wrinkle treatment say. Traces of the toxin turned up in the rats' brain stems three days after it was injected into their whisker muscles, Bloomberg reports. A dermatologist says the findings call for further investigation,...

Dead Rats Stink Up Orlando Airport

Persistent rodent problem leaves officials and passengers feeling ill

(Newser) - Dead rats are stinking up a portion of Orlando International Airport, and the smell has workers crying foul. Construction crews renovating gates earlier this month scared the rodents into the airport, the Orlando Sentinel reports; exterminators followed, and after rats died in walls and ceilings the stench sent workers and...

LAPD Gets Cats to Scare Rats
LAPD Gets Cats to Scare Rats
Dec 29, 2007 1:28 PM CST

LAPD Gets Cats to Scare Rats

Feral felines spook rodents that were running over desks, digging into bags

(Newser) - The LAPD is using six feral felines to shoo away pesky rats and mice from its lots, the Los Angeles Times reports. The mangy, homeless creatures can't be broken in as house pets, so an animal rescue group placed them with the city’s finest to control its rodent problem....

NYC Fines for Rat-Hunting Cats
NYC Fines for Rat-Hunting Cats
Dec 22, 2007 2:32 PM CST

NYC Fines for Rat-Hunting Cats

Inspectors charge $300 and up for feline guardians

(Newser) - New York food shops and delis have a way to deal with rats, but health inspectors aren’t purring: Many NYC stores have a cat around to keep out rodents, the New York Times reports. Unfortunately, health inspectors frown on cats and rats with equal fervor. “Any animal around...

Eek! A Giant New Rat
Eek! A Giant New Rat
Dec 18, 2007 2:25 PM CST

Eek! A Giant New Rat

Papua New Guinea's 'lost world' yields more wonder

(Newser) - Amid the lush paradise of a so-called lost world, researchers ran into a little reminder of the developed world's sewers: A heretofore undiscovered giant rat five times the size of gutter-variety rodents. The group also came across a new pygmy possum and various rare birds in the remote area of...

Study Finds Rats Are Winning the Rat Race

New York rated most vulnerable to boom in rodent population

(Newser) - Rodent experts labeled New York the US city most open to large-scale rat infestation today, after conducting a nationwide survey that took into account climate, waste management, population density, and age of infrastructure, Reuters reports. New York's appearance atop comes months after a KFC/Taco Bell restaurant was overrun by rats...

Rats! Humans, Rodents Have Lots in Common

Much-maligned animals laugh, dream, look forward to sex

(Newser) - Rats may be repulsive to some, but scientists are finding that they're a lot like humans. A recent crop of behavioral studies shows that rats are astonishingly self-aware, Natalie Angier reports in today's Times. They laugh when tickled and dream in epic narratives. There are even rat optimists and rat...

Mice Plague Chinese Countryside
Mice Plague Chinese Countryside
Jul 16, 2007 8:13 PM CDT

Mice Plague Chinese Countryside

Floods bring massive rodent problem

(Newser) - Flooding in central and southern China—the worst in 50 years—is displacing more than thousands of residents: Billions of mice, washed out of their burrows, have swarmed across acres of Chinese farmland, destroying crops and posing serious health hazards to residents. Pest control efforts have been largely ineffective so...

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