Starving rats growing increasingly “aggressive” are starting to become a problem as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned last week that restaurant closures and restrictions intended to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus have left trash bins less full than usual, cutting into a major food source for rodents. In a battle over slim pickings, some have become more aggressive, leading to reports of rat cannibalism and rodent armies on city streets.
“Some jurisdictions have reported an increase in rodent activity as rodents search for new sources of food,” the CDC said. “Environmental health and rodent control programs may see an increase in service requests related to rodents and reports of unusual or aggressive rodent behavior.”
The agency recommended “sealing up access into homes and businesses, removing debris and heavy vegetation, keeping garbage in tightly covered bins, and removing pet and bird food” from yards to help people ward off the pests and avoid exposure to rodent-borne diseases.
The animals can transmit illnesses such as salmonella and Weil’s disease, and their urine can worsen allergies and asthma. They can also cause major damage to cars and have caused fires by gnawing at car engines and tires.
In several major cities around the United States, such as New Orleans, increased rodent activity has been reported, and videos have emerged of desperate rats swarming roads on the hunt for food.
Man I wish I lived in a big city
When times get tough
Your neighbors come out to helpNew Orleans rats cleaning the streets pic.twitter.com/8oUF7zMMck
— Jim Hanson (@JimHansonDC) March 29, 2020
“Many of these rats in our cities depend on their nightly food, which is the restaurants and hotels and bars and doughnut shops and everything that we consume on the go,” urban rodentologist Bobby Corrigan told the Washington Post. “Deny them the opportunity, and you’ll never even know they’ve visited your property.”
