How rats became an inescapable part of city living

<p><pre><code> &gt; From Seattle to Buenos Aires, urban rat populations are rising—as much as 15 &gt; to 20 percent in the past decade, according to one expert. Charismatic &gt; animals like elephants, polar bears, and lions are all in decline, yet &gt; inside our cities, we find it hard even with extraordinary efforts to keep &gt; rat populations in check. </code></pre> One big reason for that is the removal of free-roaming cats and dogs from human habitats.<p>Free roaming cats and dogs have been a part of our society for as long as we&#x27;ve been forming cities, we only recently decided to remove them. Of course it&#x27;s going to have the knock on effects we&#x27;re now starting to see,<p>* vermin<p>* food waste<p>* wild animals venturing into cities<p>* etc.

I grew up in Istanbul -- the cat city -- where free roaming cats are everywhere and have never seen a mouse in my life. I thought &quot;mice in city&quot; was a Medieval thing. Until I moved to Bay Area... And then I moved to Boston... Turns out there are mice all over the cities in US.<p>EDIT: Also recently I learned I&#x27;m allergic to mice. This went undiagnosed for 22 years until I moved into Boston.

<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;outline.com&#x2F;sPzj3G" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;outline.com&#x2F;sPzj3G</a>

“It is the tail,” says Laurinda Williams, who breeds rats on Long Island and sells them as pets. “If it weren’t for the tail, everyone would have rats.”<p>Definitely true.<p>The other thing about rat size... man IDK. I was in Panang Malaysia and saw a dead rat in a drain that blew my mind it was so large. It was no doubt in my mind over 2lbs. It was nasiating to see, and I’ve seen rats in DC, NYC, Paris. The articles claim of 1lb 13oz might be correct but it sure seems they must be extremely light for their size.

&gt; <i>So the extermination industry uses anticoagulants, or blood thinners, which don’t affect rats for hours and don’t kill them for several days. The rats die slowly from internal bleeding. Corrigan hates to inflict such a death, but he fears outbreaks of disease. So he continues to lend his expertise to clients.</i><p>This is incredibly short-sighted thinking: Even if we ignore the horrible death it inflicts, what happens to the anti-coagulants after the rat dies?<p>Here&#x27;s one example at the top of the page: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.mountainlion.org&#x2F;actionalerts&#x2F;043014CAab2657&#x2F;043014CAab2657.asp" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.mountainlion.org&#x2F;actionalerts&#x2F;043014CAab2657&#x2F;043...</a><p>It&#x27;s not like these poisons hit a precise target and magically evaporate: They remain in the environment, and then what goes around comes around.

Guess we’re lucky not to have rats here in Alberta.

It&#x27;s a little odd that the second paragraph of the article cites how rats &quot;may have transmitted plague&quot; and then links to an article titled &quot;Maybe Rats Aren&#x27;t to Blame for the Black Death&quot;.<p>Why?

well, _something_ has to be there, right?<p>there&#x27;s a lot of energy floating down there in the urban substrata, from sewage and trash going upward, so a food chain naturally emerges as opportunistic omnivores break the ground with predators following suite.

I don&#x27;t agree with the idea that rats size is exaggerated in NYC. I have seen some at a building under construction at night that left me perplexed. A rat on steroids I&#x27;d say, walking like a pitbull..

I guess we’re lucky in Alberta to not have rats

Little known fact: rats, mice and pigs are our closest relatives, beyond primates. Which is why we test stuff on mice. And use pigs in developing medical devices.