XPost: alt.gossip.celebrities, alt.politics.democrats.d, sac.general   
   XPost: alt.rush-limbaugh   
   From: democrat.covid-19.cowardice@washingtonpost.com   
      
   Rats and other rodents have had to become even more aggressive   
   in their search for food as their supply from closed restaurants   
   has seen their source dry up.   
      
   With fewer passengers on city subways and restaurants all but   
   shut except for a smattering of take out orders, a normally   
   bountiful supply of food left behind from humans is now a rare   
   treat.   
      
   Things are becoming so serious that the Centers for Disease   
   Control and Prevention has put out a new advisory alerting   
   people to be aware of 'aggressive rodent behavior' on the   
   unsuspecting public.   
      
   'Community-wide closures have led to a decrease in food   
   available to rodents, especially in dense commercial areas,' the   
   CDC said. 'Some jurisdictions have reported an increase in   
   rodent activity as rodents search for new sources of food.'   
      
   '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 advisory reads.   
      
   The CDC is suggesting that homeowners and restaurant owners   
   check their properties and seal up holes where rats might be   
   able to sneak inside and feast on garbage.   
      
   'Follow established guidelines when cleaning up after rodent   
   infestations to prevent exposure to rodent-borne diseases,' the   
   advisory reads.   
      
   'Fleas are common on rodents. In area of heavy rodent   
   infestations, workers should consider using a repellent   
   registered by the US Environmental Protection Agency'   
      
   Lat month it was reported that some rats have even resorted to   
   cannibalism as the hunt for food becomes more difficult.   
      
   'A restaurant all of a sudden closes now, which has happened by   
   the thousands in not just New York City but coast to coast and   
   around the world, and those rats that were living by that   
   restaurant, some place nearby, and perhaps for decades having   
   generations of rats that depended on that restaurant food, well,   
   life is no longer working for them, and they only have a couple   
   of choices,' Corrigan told NBC News last month.   
      
   When hungry rats move to areas where food is still available,   
   carnage ensues.   
      
   'It's just like we've seen in the history of mankind, where   
   people try to take over lands and they come in with militaries   
   and armies and fight to the death, literally, for who's going to   
   conquer that land. And that's what happens with rats,' Bobby   
   Corrigan, an urban rodentologist who has both a master’s degree   
   and Ph.D. in rodent pest management, said.   
      
   'A new 'army' of rats come in, and whichever army has the   
   strongest rats is going to conquer that area.'   
      
   The fierce turf wars extend beyond just fights over grub - often   
   driving rats to eat each other.   
      
   'They're mammals just like you and I, and so when you're really,   
   really hungry, you're not going to act the same — you're going   
   to act very bad, usually,' he said.   
      
   'So these rats are fighting with one another, now the adults are   
   killing the young in the nest and cannibalizing the pups.'   
      
   Several cities including New Orleans, Baltimore and Washington,   
   DC, are taking aggressive action to curb rat populations as the   
   animals turn to newly-emptied streets as a new source of food.   
      
   In New Orleans, viral videos have emerged of swarms of rats   
   taking over roads and sidewalks in usually-bustling   
   neighborhoods like the French Quarter - a sight local officials   
   attributed to social distancing.   
      
   'What we have seen is these practices are driving our rodents   
   crazy,' Mayor LaToya Cantrell said at a news conference in March.   
      
   'And what rodents do, they will find food, and they will find   
   water. That puts our street homeless in dire, dire straits. And   
   that's why I'm so laser-focused on it right now.'   
      
   https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8353281/Hungry-rats-   
   aggressive-turning-struggle-food.html   
        
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)