Rats

Rats in NYC

New York City’s ‘rat czar’ wants to detect rats in real time across Manhattan

The Times newspaper (Will Pavia) reports on New York City’s battle against the urban rat using a detection device designed by an Israeli which sends data back to a smart phone. They feel that there is a need to do something game changing in order to win the battle against the rat. Derek Adams, the …

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Rats like music and move to it like humans

Rats like dancing to Lady Gaga and Mozart

This is another intriguing scientific study which this time is on ‘beat synchronisation’ by rats as they demonstrate that they can pick out the beat in music and ‘dance to it’ by moving their heads in time even if they’ve never heard it before. The researchers fitted rats with wireless miniature accelerometers (a device that …

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Man bought Taser to zap rats and found out that it was a crime

Man commits crime in buying a Taser to kill rats

NEWS AND COMMENT: Wherever you live, you should check whether owning a Taser is legal because this man, the owner of a golf school, Richard Gilling, 53, bought a Taser on the advice of a commercial lawyer and discovered when arrested that in England it is illegal to own a Taser under the Firearms Act …

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Did my rat really just drag me closer so she could give me a kiss and climb my arm?

What do you think? All I can say is that, for me, this is a charming video. The woman says that her rats make a happy. It is a statement with which you can’t argue and you can only be happy for her. Did my rat really just drag me closer so she could give …

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Dr Kean carries an African giant pouched rat trained in search and rescue

Giant rats carrying backpacks are being trained to save human lives

APOPO, a non-profit organisation which uses animals and “scent detection technology” is training HeroRATs for search and rescue. And also, to detect landmines and sniff out illnesses such as TB. African giant pouched rats, almost the size of domestic cats, are being equipped with tiny rucksacks having been trained to search rubble for earthquake survivors. …

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Ekomille rat trap

Sophisticated two-tier rat trap baited with peanut butter Oreos is the best in NYC

NEWS AND COMMENT-NEW YORK CITY, USA: Ekomille traps have won praise from the new mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, who declared them “amazing”. He was recently sworn in as the 110th mayor of New York City. New York City needs these sophisticated rat traps and they also need what is considered to be …

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Gilbert's potoroo

Rat-kangaroo reappears after being ‘extinct’ for 120 years

Gilbert’s potoroo vanished in the 1870s. It was believed to have become extinct about 120 years ago. It was (now is) one of Australia’s precious marsupial native species. It looks like a cute rat crossed with a kangaroo. Dr. Jackie Courtenay, a conservation biologist with the Gilbert’s Potoroo Action Group, said: “It really is a …

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Rat in abandoned building

6% rise in demand for pest control because of coronavirus pandemic

The Times newspaper tells us that there has been a 6% rise in demand for pest control because of the coronavirus pandemic. Rats have moved into buildings such as storage facilities and office blocks which were temporarily abandoned as the workforce resorted to homeworking and as businesses temporarily shut down with their workers on furlough. …

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NYC rats

New York City’s rat problem exacerbated by the pandemic?

This year New York City has a particularly bad rat problem. Sightings have rocketed with more than 12,000 complaints made to the city’s administrators hotline compared to 9,042 throughout 2019 according to the New York Post. The pandemic has contributed to several factors which have resulted in an increase in the rat population. One of …

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Fred a tortoise whose legs were eaten by hungry rats

Coronavirus pandemic has resulted in tortoises being attacked by rats

Tortoises are being attacked by hungry rats in the UK. The rats are gnawing at the legs of pet tortoises because they have been deprived of food that would normally have been available as waste outside opened restaurants and cafés. We all know about the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic which has decimated the …

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Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles: Speciesism - 'them and us' | Cruelty - always shameful

Note: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified.