Rat infestation

HI,

This link has a news story video clip. The rats were quite at home and not at all intimidated by people or photographer's flash bulbs.

Regards,

Was this what was on the Today Show this morning about the KFC/Taco Bell? If so, that was truly, truly scary and disturbing.

HI,

Those are from a KFC/Taco Bell in New York. The comfort level of the rats running around was most bothersome. It was obvious they had taken over the place.

Regards,

Funny you mention that subject. The plant's exterminator was telling me of some of the rat infestations that he treats on weekends in Chicago - YUCK! I won't go into all of the details.

I was assigned to work at a Manhattan hospital for a couple of months (during a strike) and I noted that they had one employee assigned to work exclusively on pest control. He told me that rats were an on-going problem in most large NY buildings and it took a concerted effort on a daily basis to keep the population at check.

If I remember correctly, the NY Post had a front page photo of a rat feasting on the donuts at Dunkin Donuts (and allegedly, it wasn't the NYT food critic).

I've seen rats scurrying through the shrubbery at numerous Chicago dining establishments with outside seating areas. It's pretty much true that if you have a city, you have rats.

I have read that rats can't burb, so soda pop, especially Pepsi, is an effective control. Set out a pan, and in the morning, shovel up the bodies.

(In fact, I remember reading in an interview of Jean Banchet about 20 years ago in which he said that rats in the city -- in an urban area, anywhere there was food, there were rats -- was one of the reasons he built Le Francais in the suburbs.)

Rat and Mouse Gazette for people who adore their furry friends:

Don’t freak out if your rat gets into your soda-pop, either. Although the Rat Health Care booklet reports that carbonated beverages should never be given to rats because "rat’s can’t burp, it can be fatal", this is simply not true.

Of course, you want your rat to have the healthiest diet possible, but there really are no foods that will harm or kill your rats, other than by making them fat, which is unhealthy and can lead to heart disease and other conditions. You must always remember, however, that any animal, including humans, may have an allergy to a certain food that could cause illness, or in a rare case, death.

Regards,

I remember when rats were a problem for the movie houses downtown. People would be watching a film and rats would run over their feet! Talk about distraction.

imsscott wrote:I remember when rats were a problem for the movie houses downtown. People would be watching a film and rats would run over their feet! Talk about distraction.

I remember Gene Siskel commenting about lifting his feet off the floor while watching movies to avoid the rats.

Regards,

Believe me, you will feel much better about the occasional rat in Chicago after visiting Budapest, gazing out over the river through the lead-polluted skies, and suddenly realizing that that gray patch on the concrete bank below you is heading your way with hundreds of beady eyes.

Cathy2 wrote:

imsscott wrote:I remember when rats were a problem for the movie houses downtown. People would be watching a film and rats would run over their feet! Talk about distraction.

I remember Gene Siskel commenting about lifting his feet off the floor while watching movies to avoid the rats.

Regards,

No, no. That was just another one of William Castle's gimmicks.

William Castle lives!

My rule of thumb, when I lived in New York, was never to live in a building with a ground floor restaurant. It didn't stop the cold weather invasions of the rats into your building, but it seemed like you were less likely to have a full scale assault.

In the past, I have told the story about moving into my first apartment in New York in Greenwich Village. After paying a security deposit, first months rent and the broker's fee for my apartment, I was flat broke and four days away from payday. I used my last six bucks to buy some bologna and a loaf of bread that I would subsist on for the next four days.

The next day, when I left for work, I made the mistake of leaving my loaf of bread on the kitchen counter. When I returned home, one of the little critters had burrowed straight through it during the course of the day. That night, in had a loser's dinner of bologna on my hand.

I woke up early the next morning carefully watching for the bread deliveries for the restaurants on my street from my fire escape. When they arrived about 5:30 am, I bolted for the street and made off with a baguette from the bread bag left on the doorstep of this incredibly bad Italian place called Ottomanelli's across the street.

Three days later, I left $3 in an envelope in Ottomanelli's doorjam and thanked them for their bread.

In SE Asia, rats are eaten in some areas. In one area of Thailand, they jokingly refer to it as Star Food, because Star is Rats backwards. In Vietnam, they call it street venison. So next time they eat your food, you can find out if they're any good. (The cookbook written to go along with Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin novels -- Labscouse and Spotted Dog -- has a recipe for rat, if you need one.)

Cynthia wrote:
I have read that rats can't burb, so soda pop, especially Pepsi, is an effective control. Set out a pan, and in the morning, shovel up the bodies.

Actually, on effective means of killing rates is placing a container of antifreeze in the area where rats and mice are populous. It attracts them with the smell and the sweet taste. And it kills them.

It also kills cats, dogs, and kids.

Rats are getting aggressive hunting for food amid restaurant closures, CDC warns

Humans aren’t the only ones hankering for the days they could dine out at their cities’ restaurants: Some rats that miss feasting on the scraps are becoming increasingly brazen to find new food sources, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Thursday.

Amid stay-home restrictions set across the country to battle the spread of the novel coronavirus, many restaurants and cafes are closed or limited to takeout and delivery, and with the reduced sales, the restaurants’ trash bins are no longer overflowing with scrumptious leftovers hordes of rodents subsisted on. Finding slimmer pickings, critters have become more aggressive, prompting the CDC to issue guidance on how to deter them.
...

Unpleasant development. Hope the CDC recommends killing them, and not just deterring them.

Cynthia wrote:Unpleasant development. Hope the CDC recommends killing them, and not just deterring them.

Is there any way to convert them into a toilet paper substitute?

=R=

Chicago does have a Rat Patrol, which I hope survived any budget cuts.

The worst rat infestation I've ever endured was while doing a consult in Greektown a few yrs back. Scary what I saw both inside and out. In all fairness, they were building (still are) the overpass and the heavy machinery displaces them, but it was really really out of control.