INVASION OF SUPER RATS THE SIZE OF CATS TERRORIZING BRITAIN

There are more of them than ever - and they're BIGGER than ever. And it's all due to junk food in unemptied bins.

Rodents could be growing as humans did after the Industrial Revolution

There are more than 80 million of them in the UK, at least one per person

Rats have neophobia - fear of new things - so they simply run around traps

Last year gnawing was blamed for electrical fire which gutted six coaches

Rat catcher saw one that was 17 inches long .  ‘Creatures can certainly change in size,’ says Robin Allaby, professor in evolutionary genetics at Warwick University.  He points out that humans became bigger with improved nutrition — for example people got larger after the Industrial Revolution because of the increase in the amount of meat in their diet.  It may well be the same with rats.

 

Health concerns - As well as thread worm and Weil’s disease (a bacterial infection which can lead to organ failure and internal bleeding), brown rats can carry tuberculosis, salmonella, E. Coli, foot and mouth, toxoplasmosis (a parasite inducing flu-like symptoms) and cryptosporidium, which causes severe gastrointestinal problems.

Read more
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2596603/Invasion-super-rats-There-theyre-BIGGER-And-junk-food-unemptied-bins.html


RELATED

Scientists are raising undue alarm about ALLEGED cat-to-human tuberculosis transmission after only a couple of cases.  This is unwise, considering that cats are excellent rat-catchers, and also wonderful companions contributing to our emotional well being.  

MARCH 29, 2014 - WHAT'S BEHIND THIS HYSTERIA ABOUT ALLEGED CAT-TO-HUMAN  TUBERCULOSIS TRANSMISSION? 
What about the new 1,000 cases of TB a day through human-to-human transmission in Europe alone?

Read more
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/03/whats-behind-this-hysteria-about.html

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