According to the BBC, the Australian state of Queensland has been battling a plague of rats and mice for months.
They are moving in large numbers from inland areas to the coast in search of food. Many die before reaching the coast, and so piles of rats have been washing up on riverbanks along the route.
One local resident was quoted as saying, “Mate, there are rats everywhere.”
It doesn’t sound good. Are rats on course to challenge humans for
dominance of the world? Here are the
thoughts of some writers on the subject of rats:
"Sir?"
"Hey?" said Gavroche again.
"Why don't you have a cat?"
"I did have one," replied
Gavroche, "I brought one here, but [the rats] ate
her."
From “Les Miserables” by Victor Hugo
*
A few rats versus a cat makes for a happy cat. A plague of rats versus a cat makes for a cat buffet.
“The rat gave birth. Six little ones...cute
baby rats... None of them are like Hitler.”
From “The Push Man and Other Stories” by Yoshihiro Tatsumi
*
At least rats aren’t evil. Are they really such a problem?
“You want proof evolution is for real,
don’t waste your time with fossils; just check out the New York City rat. They
started out as immigrants, stowaways in some ship’s cargo hold. Only the
survivors got to breed, and they’ve been improving with every new
litter. Smarter, faster, stronger. Getting
ready to rule. Manhattan wouldn’t be the first island they took over.”
From “Another Life” by Andrew Vachss
*
Yes.
Fear the rats.
“One night, in the warehouse of a grocery chain, I saw some egg-stealing rats at work. They worked in pairs. A small rat would straddle an egg and clutch it in his four paws. When he got a good grip on it, he'd roll over on his back. Then a bigger rat would grab him by the tail and drag him across the floor to a hole in the baseboard, a hole leading to a burrow.”
From “Writing New York: A Literary Anthology” by Joseph Mitchell
*
They’re smarter than you think.
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