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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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 Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 3:25 am Post subject: Men scatter and scream after spotting 'giant rat' inside |
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Men scatter and scream after spotting 'giant rat' inside Minnesota tire shop
Published: Monday, February 19, 2007 | 3:58 PM ET
Canadian Press
VIRGINIA, Minn. (AP) - A furry, uninvited guest had manly men at an Iron Range tire shop shrieking and hopping on desks. "It was pretty humorous," said conservation officer Dan Starr, who filed a report on the critter's break-in. "Here were these big, burly outdoors guys running around screaming." Taconite Tire employees arrived at work on Monday to find what they thought was a giant rat inside the store.
"I was the first one into work that morning and the first one out," said Shannon Bergman, an off-road tire salesman. "I walked in, and in the waiting area I saw this big rat, and I took off."
Mayhem ensued.
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/Oddities/070219/K02199AU.html |
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Rteacher
Joined: 23 May 2005
Location: Western MA, USA
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| Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 3:44 am Post subject: |
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It's an example of unnecessarily killing a living being that poses no real threat out of ignorance and irrational fear. The critter was probably just hungry and looking for a few crumbs dropped on the floor...
In India, cloth merchants - who used to have a problem with hungry rats - found that by leaving out a plate at night with some rice on it, rats would come and eat what they needed and leave without eating any cloth or causing any disturbance to their business. Everyone's got a right to eat - and animals are satisfied with food that humans discard... |
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Hollywoodaction
Joined: 02 Jul 2004
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| Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 12:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Rteacher wrote: |
It's an example of unnecessarily killing a living being that poses no real threat out of ignorance and irrational fear. The critter was probably just hungry and looking for a few crumbs dropped on the floor...
In India, cloth merchants - who used to have a problem with hungry rats - found that by leaving out a plate at night with some rice on it, rats would come and eat what they needed and leave without eating any cloth or causing any disturbance to their business. Everyone's got a right to eat - and animals are satisfied with food that humans discard... |
Rats still carry and transmit the plague to humans in India. |
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Rteacher
Joined: 23 May 2005
Location: Western MA, USA
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| Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2007 6:09 am Post subject: |
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India was completely plague-free from 1966 - 1994. There was a very limited epidemic in 1994 which was exaggerated by media reports, and there have only been a few cases since. I think fleas are just as much a part of the chain of transmission as rats, and unsanitary conditions combined with high temperatures compounded the problem...
Rats have a PR problem. It would have helped, I think, if there were a megastar cartoon character named "Ricky Rat" ...
http://www.itg.be/itg/DistanceLearning/LectureNotesVandenEndenE/33_Plaguep14.htm
Of course, if they're desparately hungry, or if they're cornered, tough street rats do pose a threat to bite humans (but Indiana Jones - and even his girl friend - survived hoards of them ...)
The animal that was killed in this story was a muskrat, which is usually found in wetlands, ponds, lakes, rivers, etc. - and muskrats play an important role in the ecosystem ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muskrat |
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jinju
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2007 7:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Rteacher wrote: |
It's an example of unnecessarily killing a living being that poses no real threat out of ignorance and irrational fear. The critter was probably just hungry and looking for a few crumbs dropped on the floor...
In India, cloth merchants - who used to have a problem with hungry rats - found that by leaving out a plate at night with some rice on it, rats would come and eat what they needed and leave without eating any cloth or causing any disturbance to their business. Everyone's got a right to eat - and animals are satisfied with food that humans discard... |
Thats great. Theres a rewason why there are so many diseases going arounf in India..acceptence or vermin that should be exterminated. |
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jinju
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2007 7:18 pm Post subject: |
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| Rteacher wrote: |
| India was completely plague-free from 1966 - 1994. There was a very limited epidemic in 1994 which was exaggerated by media reports, and there have only been a few cases since |
Wow now THERES an accomplishment..no plague for an entire 3 decades!! Woohoo India, you are a shining example of cleanliness to the world. |
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seoulunitarian
Joined: 06 Jul 2004
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| Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2007 7:29 pm Post subject: re: |
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| jinju wrote: |
| Rteacher wrote: |
It's an example of unnecessarily killing a living being that poses no real threat out of ignorance and irrational fear. The critter was probably just hungry and looking for a few crumbs dropped on the floor...
In India, cloth merchants - who used to have a problem with hungry rats - found that by leaving out a plate at night with some rice on it, rats would come and eat what they needed and leave without eating any cloth or causing any disturbance to their business. Everyone's got a right to eat - and animals are satisfied with food that humans discard... |
Thats great. Theres a rewason why there are so many diseases going arounf in India..acceptence or vermin that should be exterminated. |
(i.e. us).
Peace |
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