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NEWS ABOUT: rats

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'Literary' Island Faces Bombing of Rat Poison

Italy plans to exterminate rats on Montecristo

(Newser) - Any buried treasure on the island of Montecristo will soon be covered in rat poison. Facing a massive rat infestation, Italian authorities plan to drop 26 tons of poison on the 4-square-mile island that inspired Alexandre Dumas' famous novel The Count of Monte Cristo, the Telegraph reports. Black rats may... More »

3-Foot Rat Speared in Brooklyn

Worker at housing project kills rodent with a pitchfork

(Newser) - It's a rat that almost ate Brooklyn. But a Housing Authority worker speared the three-foot-long rodent (including tail)—with a pitchfork, reports the New York Daily News . Experts believe the creature is likely a Gambian pouched rat , which is sometimes kept as a pet—but perhaps more at home... More »

Australia Fighting Rats —With Rats

Native species summoned to take out non-native invaders

(Newser) - In the what-could-possibly-go-wrong department: Australia hopes to rid the Sydney Harbour area of black rats by introducing a different species of rat into the area, reports Reuters . The black rats are non-native invaders that probably arrived by ship 200 or so years ago, and they're a huge nuisance near... More »

Rat Crawls on NYC Subway Rider's Face

Welcome to Gotham

(Newser) - Ew. When someone brags about improved quality of life in New York, pull out this video. One of the many rats who share space with the city's thousands of daily commuters frantically scurries about a subway car as another rider films him. Passengers watch, sometimes lifting their feet to avoid... More »

1K Rats Found in Hoarder's Home

And you thought you needed to clean your closet out...

(Newser) - Close to 1,000 rats have been rescued from a Los Angeles man's home featured on A&E's reality show, Hoarders. The Humane Society has relocated the rats to San Jose, where they are being temporarily housed at a pet shop until they can be adopted. A previous owner's daughter... More »

This Rat Could Provide Your Next Fur Coat

Somehow, we doubt PETA is convinced

(Newser) - Good news, eco-conscious fashionistas: You may soon be able to don real fur responsibly. The downside? It comes from a rat. The nutria, to be exact, a semi-aquatic South American rat that grows to more than 2 feet long and can reach 20 pounds. Thanks to the fact that the... More »

Rats Laugh When Tickled

And guess what? They like it!

(Newser) - A YouTube gem from 2007 is making the rounds again, teaching us something kind of neat and kind of gross: Rats laugh when tickled. When a Bowling Green University professor decided to try tickling the rodents, and then listening to their resulting high-frequency noises on a “bat detector,”... More »

I'm a Celeb Contestants Charged in Rat-Eating

Animal-rights activists not amused by stunt

(AP) - Turns out that killing and eating a rat on I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here was a bad idea on many levels—including the animal cruelty charges that two contestants are now facing. Series winner and chef Gino D'Acampo and actor Stuart Manning are facing charges in Australia... More »

Gas Fumes May Pump Up Road Rage

Study finds link to increased aggression in rats

(Newser) - If filling the gas tank fills you with rage, it might be the fumes you're breathing, not the prices you're paying. A new study shows rats exposed to gasoline fumes became more aggressive, with repeated exposure altering their brain structures—a finding that could also apply to humans and road... More »

Paralyzed Rats Run in Breakthrough Experiment

Application for humans with spinal injuries not far off

(Newser) - Scientists have made paralyzed rats run again by using a new technique that could one day have wheelchair-bound people walking, reports AFP. Rats, whose spinal cords had been severed, ran when scientists applied electrical charges and drugs. "In some cases they actually walked with more consistent locomotive patterns than... More »

Giant Rat Found in 'Lost Volcano'

Fanged toads, mini 'Ewoks' among species discovered in New Guinea jungle

(Newser) - A new species of giant rat with no fear of humans has been discovered in a volcanic crater deep in the jungles of Papua New Guinea. It's the same kind of rat "you find in city sewers"—except it's 32 inches long, said a scientist traveling with a... More »

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... More »

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... More »

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... More »

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,... More »

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... More »

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... More »

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

(AP) - 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... More »

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... More »

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... More »

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