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Squirrels Turn Out to Be Murderous Carnivores
Squirrels Turn Out to Be
Murderous Carnivores
in case you missed it
Dec 22, 2024 11:00 AM CST

Squirrels Turn Out to Be Murderous Carnivores

For first time, the rodents have been caught hunting, killing, and eating meat in California

(Newser) - Squirrels noshing on nuts is a common sight, but don't be fooled—they're apparently no vegans. Scientists looking into the habits of the California ground squirrel have discovered that the species is actually a bona fide meat eater, "killing and decapitating en masse," as SFGate puts...

Scores of Hamsters Make a Break for It on Flight

Plane was grounded for 4 days at Portuguese airport to recover every single escaped rodent

(Newser) - A flight from Portugal's capital to an island in the Azores ended up grounded for four days after more than 130 hamsters busted out of their holding containers and overtook the plane carrying them to their destination. The Telegraph reports that the TAP Air Portugal jet traveled Wednesday from...

Man Makes 'Crippling' Delivery to NH Animal Shelter

He dropped off 1K mice, which the New Hampshire SPCA is now trying to handle

(Newser) - A group of mice is called a nest, but what do you call 1,000 of them in one animal shelter? "Crippling," said Lisa Dennison, executive director of the New Hampshire Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which is scrambling to care for an overwhelming influx...

The US Cities That Rats Love Most
The US Cities That
Rats Love Most
Oct 22, 2024 8:32 AM CDT

The US Cities That Rats Love Most

Chicago tops Orkin's list for 10th year straight

(Newser) - For 10 years straight, one city has claimed the title of America's "rattiest city," according to the Orkin pest-control service , and it's "won" the honor again this year, reports Patch . That city would be Chicago, whose "abundance of alleys" has helped the rodents take...

Alaskan Island Is On the Hunt for a Solitary Rat

Residents of Alaska's St. Paul Island are desperate to keep invasive rodent away after reported sighting

(Newser) - On an island of windswept tundra in the Bering Sea, hundreds of miles from mainland Alaska, a resident sitting outside their home saw—well, did they see it? They were pretty sure they saw it. A rat. The purported sighting wouldn't have gotten attention in many places around the...

Chicago's 'Rat Hole' Is No More
Chicago Kills Its 'Rat Hole'
Apr 25, 2024 12:13 PM CDT

Chicago Kills Its 'Rat Hole'

Questionable landmark, an imprint of a rat on a sidewalk, is removed by DOT

(Newser) - The "rat hole" is gone. A Chicago sidewalk landmark some residents affectionately called the "rat hole" was removed Wednesday after city officials determined the section bearing the imprint of an animal was damaged and needed to be replaced, reports the AP . The imprint has been a quirk of...

Australian Town Battles a Literal Sea of Rats
On the Day the Rats Arrived,
He Filled 18 Bags With Bodies
in case you missed it
Dec 3, 2023 7:00 AM CST

On the Day the Rats Arrived, He Filled 18 Bags With Bodies

An Australian town is suffering from a plague of long-haired rats

(Newser) - "It is still livable," says a local official, but after reading about the situation in the Australian town of Karumba, you might disagree. It, along with other towns in Western Queensland, is suffering from an invasion of long-haired rats. NPR reports that healthy rainfall led to a boom...

They've Raised 'Neuty' From Infancy. The State Wants Him
State Relents on Taking
'Neuty' From Couple
updated
Mar 18, 2023 4:50 PM CDT

State Relents on Taking 'Neuty' From Couple

Louisiana family's nutria is invasive species that needs to be kept at zoo, wildlife officials had said

(Newser) - After a public outcry, Louisiana officials have decided a couple can keep their pet. Denny and Myra Lacoste had afoul of state law by having a 22-pound nutria—a beady-eyed, orange-toothed, rat-tailed rodent commonly considered a wetlands-damaging pest—as a pet that frolics with their dog, snuggles in their arms,...

Congrats, NYC: You're Not the 'Rattiest' City in America

Chicago takes that honor in rankings by Orkin pest control company; the Big Apple comes in 2nd

(Newser) - Think "rats in the city," and many people are likely to envision the rodents who creep around in the Big Apple's alleyways and subway system. It's not New York City, though, but Chicago atop Orkin's list of the "rattiest" cities in America. USA Today...

Family Dollar's Rat Problem Just Got Bigger

Arkansas is suing the chain over yearslong infestation at distribution warehouse

(Newser) - Earlier this year it emerged that Family Dollar had a problem with rats . Now the discount chain has a related problem with a bigger foe—the attorney general of Arkansas. The state's Leslie Rutledge filed suit against Family Dollar last week over the previously revealed rat infestation at a...

The Mouse Infestation at FDA HQ Is Sort of Normal

It turns out mice, other critters are common around White Oak, but pandemic didn't help

(Newser) - It could happen in any office building from which staff made hasty, "temporary" departures at the start of the pandemic. One week rolled into the next, and the workers did not return, but all those snacks around their offices remained. Local rodents took notice, apparently, at the FDA's...

'Unacceptable' Visitors at Family Dollar Site Lead to Closures, Recall

Rat infestation at Ark. distribution center forces 400-plus stores to close in South, product recall

(Newser) - Bad news if you're a regular at Family Dollar and you're in the South: Chances are, a location near you may be shuttered temporarily after a rat infestation at an Arkansas distribution warehouse. The Washington Post reports that 404 stores in six states—Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri,...

Hong Kong Blames COVID Outbreak on Hamsters

2K small animals in the city are now to be culled

(Newser) - Hong Kong will cull 2,000 small animals after reporting what could be its first-known case of animal-to-human transmission of SARS-CoV-2. A 23-year-old pet shop employee diagnosed as "the city's first untraceable delta infection in more than three months" is thought to have been infected by one of...

Chipmunks With the Plague Lead to Closures in Resort City

Sections in southern part of Calif. resort area to remain shuttered through end of week after rodents test positive

(Newser) - Last year was the year of the murder hornets and flying ants . This year, it's plague chipmunks. The AP reports that certain sections on the south shores of California's Lake Tahoe have been temporarily closed after some of the striped rodents tested positive for the infectious disease. Due...

1K Cats Descend on Chicago to Take Down Its Rats

Hundreds of feral felines released by animal shelter to deal with city's rodent problem

(Newser) - Chicago has a rodent problem—one so bad the city has been deemed the "rattiest city" in the nation for the last six years. One local animal shelter has been hard at work combating the issue, using a rather low-tech method: It releases hundreds of feral cats onto the...

To Get to $7B in Gold, They Have to Wrangle Rare Rodents

Ed Stoddard at Undark describes the conservation project around Chilean mine

(Newser) - An effort to pull 3.5 million ounces of gold from a site high in the mountains of northern Chile is expected to cost $860 million—$400,000 of which has already been spent on rodents. A colony of 25 endangered short-haired chinchillas has made a home at the site...

Owners of Trashed Home: Why Couldn't It Have Been a Raccoon?

Georgia couple's insurance doesn't cover squirrel damage

(Newser) - A Georgia couple returned from vacation late last month to find an intruder had visited nearly every room in the home they'd inhabited for only a week. That intruder—responsible for a running faucet, feces on the furniture, and wood chips across the floor—turned out to be a...

Washington, DC, Faces Major Rat Infestation

It's now America's fourth rattiest city

(Newser) - Andre Pittman and Gregory Cornes are on a mission to rid Washington of opportunistic vermin. But their target isn't corrupt officials or shady political fixers; it's Rattus Norvegicus, the common Norway Rat. The nation's capital is facing a spiraling rat infestation, fueled by mild winters and a...

Work Orders Offer 'Rare Glimpse' Into WH Maintenance Issues

Like mice, roaches, ants, and a toilet seat for the Oval Office

(Newser) - Remember when President Trump reportedly called the White House a "real dump" ? The New York Post notes that, at least in terms of maintenance issues, that observation may not be entirely inaccurate. Hundreds of work orders for the White House were submitted in 2017, and News4 got its...

Plague Finds its Way to Fleas in One US State

Arizona county is warning residents to leash their dogs and de-flea all pets

(Newser) - The bacterium that wiped out millions in Europe in the Black Death pandemic of the 1300s lives on, and officials say it's resurfaced in fleas in Arizona. Navajo County public health officials warn on Facebook that Yersinia pestis, better known as the plague, can be transmitted to humans and...

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