Tweet
It’s a legitimate question, though I asked it on my Facebook wall (right) as a black humor distraction from all of the unfortunate news from the East Coast as hurricane/tropical storm/storm system Sandy has resulted in unprecedented flooding in New York City, where I lived for many years before moving back to NC.
My second thought, after visualizing the Manhattan rats traveling uptown to escape the flood (and, apparently, phone banking for Mittens) — they will have a feast on all of the food trash strewn everywhere. I haven’t heard when the city will resume garbage pick up.
I recall that when I lived there in the 70s sanitation pickup stopped (briefly; perhaps it was a strike), rats were boldly feeding off of the garbage in broad daylight from restaurant trash piled up on the sidewalk that wasn’t picked up.
Apparently I wasn’t the only one thinking about the swimming, plentiful, resourceful, gross 8-million-plus rodents that live among New Yorkers. From HuffPo, the very real danger they pose in the wake of the storm, Rick Ostfeld of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Milbrook, N.Y.:
“Rats are incredibly good swimmers,” said Ostfeld. “And they can climb.”
In other words, Sandy is unlikely to knock off the resilient rodents, but rather displace them.
According to Ostfeld, this could result in increased risk of infectious diseases carried by urban rats, including leptospirosis, hantavirus, typhus, salmonella, and even the plague.
“One of things we know can exacerbate disease is massive dispersal,” he added. “Rats are highly social individuals and live in a fairly stable social structure. If this storm disturbs that, rats could start infesting areas they never did before.”
And it’s not only the bite of a rat than can transmit disease. Rodent feces and urine can spread hantavirus, for example. Still, Ostfeld suggested that the huge volume of water Sandy is expected to bring should dilute the pathogens and lessen risks to public health.
People, stay safe, and hope your city officials have thought about this post-storm issue. It’s a serious health issue, particularly for the homeless, who will not have sufficient refuge from these vermin if they are on the streets much of the time.
Photo: submissions to the Transit Workers Union Local 100′s Rat Free Subways Project via Gothamist.
13 Comments
That’s it, demonize the rats. Even liberals, sooner or later, find some group to hate on. . . here with a transparent layer of scientistic hoohoo. Exhibit the nth of why we need a materialist, not an idealist, analysis of our problems.
As if it wasn’t the way people live that created the rat problem in the first place.
Signed, former New Yorker, only slightly snarking
P.S. Can study the precinct maps and shoo them toward the poshest Republican enclaves on the West Side?
These are the lifeblood of Wall Street. Without them, the criminal banking enterprises would fail. They must be looked after and continue to be well compensated….what…oh, you mean that sort of rat was moving….
kbki — we were thinking along the same line. I wondered how they’d be able to swim in the tunnels while carrying a briefcase.
The rats while good swimmers will likely be half drowned from Sandy and weak making them vulnerable to getting sick. Next factor they will be competing for food with the other rats in NY this will force them to eat food they normally would not in desperation. Yes rats will eat spoiled food but they prefer fresh food. Yes rats can handle spoiled food that could give us humans food poisoning in a second quite well but just because the rat probably won’t get sick does not mean its not infected with something that can make humans sick.
I guess now we get to see just how good FEMA is under Obama. Can the GOP hamstring FEMA ? My guess is the Presidential Campaign has now turned into a test of FEMA because nobody can campaign for President when the country is dealing with a disaster like this. if Obama and FEMA do a good job he keeps the presidency. He shows up Bush and Brownie and Mitt and Ryan’s comments and votes to cut disaster relief to states will be a factor in their losing the Presidency.
The GOP of course needs Obama and FEMA to fuck up New York like Bush fucked up New Orleans both to win the Presidency for Mitt but to excuse Bush and prepare the way for Jeb.
And some of those rats – the four legged ones – are really, really, big. Especially the ones down by the piers.
Yikes.
The Wallstreet Rats are also hurting with the stockmarket being closed down, the power being out and the subways being closed yes of course they will get a bailout of some kind but the thing to remember is the longer the NY Stock market is closed the bigger the bailout will be.
I am sure they will reopen the NY stock exchange as soon as possible but with the power out in many places and the subways closed how many workers can get to work at the NY stock exchange.
Now just imagine what happens if the market has a reason to panic sell ( war with Iran, the banks are collapsing again, another Enron etc ) and the NY stock exchange is down.
Imagine what would have happened during the banking crisis if none of the rats on Wallstreet could sell because the NY stock market was closed?
My friends posting pictures of dead rats on FB, downtown.
What happened here in Chicago when they re-did the Lakefront was all these displaced rats moved from the north-side Lakefront into the neighborhood and found the living to be fine. They can eat dog crap. The more poison you put out doesn’t seem to do a thing.
Well, that’s your point of view. For them it was a hellacious disruption and has altered the course of their empire considerably. And they nurse grudges; my kid has two of them.
Ugh. This really could be a major public health issue, given that rats are a major vector for many human diseases. As if NYC did not already have enough problems from this.
Liberals did not find rats a group to hate on “sooner or later.”
Liberals have always hated rats. That’s why liberals are union people.
All I ask is that you do not use the word “liberal” and the word “Democrat” as though they are interchangeable. They aren’t.
Neither are “liberal” and “progressive.”
Thanking you in advance….
Rats and roaches.
I can’t abide either one and it seems as though they’ve both figured out a way to survive everything.
Boston had to do significant digging in one of its neighborhoods and preceded that by sending a lot of supposedly rat-killing stuff underground. I don’t know how it worked out, though.