Just saw one of the oddest/creepiest things --

[newsguyatl]

Doesn't speak highly for where I live, but I swear it's really nice -- though you won't think it after reading this:


So I'm parking my car tonight in one of the parking lots of my complex and as I'm driving by the dumpster, I see two HUGE, I mean HUUUUUUUGE rats climb UP the frickin' tree right beside it. I mean each of these critters looked like double the size of a squirrel.

So there I am, still in my car, in amazement, continuing to watch them. And then they, get this, JUMP INTO the dumpster from the tree above.

It was the grossest thing. Can you imagine one of those things jumping out of a tree on YOU?!?

Anyway, don't ever tell me rats aren't smart. Those suckers know how to get their food.

[Rick Myers]

1. Hell yeah they're smart!!!

They control all three branches of government!!!

:thumbsup:

[efhmc]

2. Thought the thread was about Cheney. Really, I did.

[Princess Turandot]

3. I've been reading the NYC Rat book..

it's an essay by a guy who watched a population of rats for a year before & after 9-11 (they were in an alley downtown) occasionally accented with rat lore.

I've only seen rats on subway tracks in NY. Big suckers.

[newsguyatl]

5. yeh, i've never seen such big rats

i mean, i bet these things could kill a baby and eat it

[gardenista]

4. There are plenty of rats in the swankiest of neighborhoods.

I've seen them in Atherton, CA, which is actually crawling with them! People have these huge estates on 2-3 acres, and have lots of ivy all over the place, which rats just love.

They are *everywhere*, it's just that because they're nocturnal, we don't see them much.

They completely gross me out, so I'm glad about that.

[miss_kitty]

6. so you haven't seen them run along phone lines...

[newsguyatl]

7. ugh, no, can't say i've seen that

but that image of flying rat is now stuck in my head.

[Marlie]

8. We live in the Country

Have a bird feeder right outside our kitchen window. Squirrels
occasionally raid it. One morning I see this really big squirrel
in the tree and lo and behold, it was one giant rat. Here we are,
on six acres, no garbage around and there he was in the tree
eating the bird food. To say I was shocked would be putting it
mildly. Fortunately, that only happened once. Instead of beautiful
birds my morning wake up call was a big rat.. shudder.

[newsguyatl]

9. LOL!

Instead of beautiful
birds my morning wake up call was a big rat..

[FDRrocks]

10. Aww rats need food too! (One line sentiment plus sad tale)

:)

The one day I walked out to our backporch, which houses our squirrel-seiged birdfeeder, and I noticed the feeder is low. I grab the white bucket we keep our food in, open it, and find a dead squirrel. The saga of this squirrel, as best I can figure, is that he wasn't as savvy as the other squirrels and couldn't get past my grandfathers anti-squirrel-birdfeeder-protection-rig (which I vigorously opposed). So he went for the feed bucket, found his way in by pulling half the top off, and after filling his cute little squirrel cheeks to bring home to his poverty-stricken squirrel family, found himself with no exit strategy. RIP Mr. Squirrel.

[bratcatinok]

11. Thank goodness for my

two cats and my rat terrier mix!

While we didn't have a rat invade the house, we did have a mouse who decided to take up residence under the refrigerator. Both cats would hunker down for hours in front of the refrigerator tails twitching and just waiting.

After a week we found the poor little mouse body underneath a carton of cokes in the laundry room. The cats quit watching the refrigerator shortly after that. I can only guess the mouse was caught out in the open and took refuge under the coke carton and ended up starving to death or dying from fright.

[deadeye]

12. Unfortunately I think I have a creepier rat story...

We had just moved into in a little cottage (shack) on an acre in San Diego County, CA. We went to bed with the windows open (no screens) since it was warm and we didnt have AC.

I awoke to a blood-curling scream from my wife and felt something jump off the bed. I then saw three LARGE rats climb up the drapes and jump out the window.

There were rat turds all over our white sheets.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

14. Nice... welcome to beautiful SouthernCA.... oh yeah, and DU

too.
:wave:

[WilliamPitt]

16. Jesus

Ew.

Welcome to DU, rat boy. ;)

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

13. Sound more like Opossums

but, yeah rats are wicked smart. I always have a couple of them, they are so much fun, plus it is attonement for all the rats I had to kill as a grad student in biology.

If rats were to ever take over the world, I think I would be sought out as a war criminal.

[AmyDeLune]

15. I remember

sitting on the couch watching some late night TV when I hear a 'thump' and something running across the floor. My first thought was, "Just the dog." then I realized the dog was on the couch with me. So I get up and go out to the kitchen, turn on the light, and catch a glimpse of something by the clothes dryer. I look behind the dryer and sitting on the vent hose is a HUGE rat, just looking at me. If he could have spoken, he would have said, "What!? Haven't you ever seen a Giant Wharf Rat before?! Stupid Human! Turn off the light on your way out, would ya?"

We borrowed a rat trap and a few days later, that was the end of Mr. Rat.