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Q: Rats, is China over run with them?
Now thats its warmer, every time I go out late at night there are rats running around every where. I've only seen one rat at home. With this many rats running around why don't the Chinese eat them too. I see very few cats running around and most I have seen were tied. What controls the rodents in China?
I think cats are their only predator here. While some dogs look quite skinny, all free roaming cats I've seen look healthy and happy, so they must be eating something. I really don't understand why people tie up their cats. If you let it roam free, as long as you feed it, it will come back. Then again, why should I expect anyone here to know how to take care of an animal? Hey, isn't that why the Black Plague was so bad? Because they got rid of all the cats beforehand? So I guess your answer is that not much is taking care of those rats, hence seeing them running around.
TedDBayer:
I wanted to bring a dog and a cat (have 7) but I read warning about having a cat lose,, they use anything for fur and cats make a nice snack. I've seen ornaments at home with cat fur. I've read about Chinese stuff being banned because of it. So I can undersatnd tethering a cat. BTW all the cats I've seen were not healthy, suffering from URI (dirty nose), things we do vacinate for.
I guess if they try to get rid of the rats that means they admit to having a rat problem = losing face.....so.......run free rodents of the land, run free little rats!
God what is the matter with white people. The Chinese brown rat does not carry plague fleas like the western black rat and help to cut down on waste which promotes health. France has rats that they let grow to the size of dogs that live in the sewers and eat clogs and waste vary green vary cheap.
crimochina:
yes chinese think rats carry no diseases and their droppings are good for your health which why this schools allows then to do their business on the computer console. give up the act. any sensible person knows that any kind of rodent infestation is a health risk and we are talking about many different kinds of diseases.
Just to clarify Julio's crazy misinformation:
Both types of rats came from East Asia, and both can carry the plague. Black rats were more common in Europe when it happened, but plague fleas can be carried by any mammal.
I saw a lot of rats in Jiangsu and a few in Guangxi, but I've never seen them anywhere else. I think in Zhejiang they have some kind of pest control thing, or at least that what I've heard.
TedDBayer:
I'm in Guilin, Guangxi. I bought a scooter and I've been going for rides late at night, just to see how far it will go, see the city and learn the streets. It's quieter, but there are rats most places that are dark, often i can only see a dark movement in the shadows. I've had rats almost run across my feet twice. It would be nice if they were CATS, I like them.
Jíliú.hé:
I was implying the brown rats or Rattus norvegicus are less likely to spread the Bubonic plague or Black Death because they carry less fleas which is the widely believed theory.
and you did not even talk waste management part
kchur:
No, Julio, they carry just as many fleas. They just hadn't arrived in Europe when the Black Death hit. And it is not the widely believed theory.
Bubonic plague refers to the symptoms yersina pestis might cause. It can also cause other types of plague.
Black Death refers to the major outbreak of the plague that hit in the 1300s.
crimochina:
"The Chinese brown rat does not carry plague fleas like the western black rat and help to cut down on waste which promotes health."
does not carry plague fleas that is what you said. you cant comprehend your own writing??
I was told that the street BBQ at night in zhejiang was rat. Tasted ok to me...
The other night I was walking around and i saw a bunch of rats run into two store fronts. No one in the stores notices. I walk into one store and tell the girl a rat just ran in here. She says where, so I point to the back hall. she glances, then back at the TV. So the rat comes back and I point it out. She gets up, looks at it and sits down and back to the TV, no concern. I'd be freaking if I was sitting in a room with a rat.
Ted's example of the Chinese reaction is the polar opposite to what I've seen.
We had rats in the office the other week and it freaked the hell out of all the girls (me included; me especially if I'm being honest). There were humiliatingly stereotypical screams and chair jumping!
TedDBayer:
She was watching TV tho, it has too much power over the Chinese women.
MissA:
Well, it seems sometime in the last month, a manhole in the roof had disappeared and the first I knew of rats were when two ... things ... fell from the ceiling and landed on the table next to me, squeaking. Ms Steinem would not judge me under such circumstances, surely...
Rats are no more prevalent here than anywhere else. My old company warehouse in Vancouver was over run with them....and I mean the big ass hairy kind.
Once here in Shenzhen I was at an outdoor patio bar and a rat about 12 inches long jumped onto my lap....good times....I screamed like a girl.
GuilinRaf:
I would have PAID to see that in video! Double if in person!
Yes and their name is Chinese and the have the highest population in the world
I saw rats in Bangkok, but at least they put their paws together and bowed before running over my shoes.
