Tuesday, December 10, 2013

How rats get fat



Noting a new sign along Tompkins Square Park… around the East Ninth Street entrance at Avenue A ... a popular site for people to dump a few tons of bread for the pigeons…

Of course, some Park regulars like the rats fat.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank God someone took a stand against rat obesity. I, too, have been concerned by their increasing girth. Please don't leave bread out in the park. Instead, leave apple slices, grapes and other healthy, low-cal options. Soon enough, you'll see a slimmer rat population. And don't even get me started on how chubby the local squirrels are these days...

EV Grieve said...

@ anon 6:06

Heh. Yes! You've inspired me to go drop some kale here!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 6:06, You beat me to it! :)

The Philosophical Zombie said...

More delicious rats with bread stuffing for the hawks!

Anonymous said...

If anyone tries to confronted (ask politely) a person that feeds pigeons as their life's calling, a mistake I made once, you will discover that person is mentally ill in some way. I was told "when the war starts you will be the first one killing everyone". Could we bring in more red tail hawks to the part area?

David Phillips said...

A rat lesson to be learned from Easter Island?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2013/12/09/249728994/what-happened-on-easter-island-a-new-even-scarier-scenario?

Anonymous said...

The rat situation in the neighborhood has become intolerable. I now have a rat problem in my apartment for the first time in the 30 years I have lived here. Our building is infested. They are coming from the cemetery on East 2nd. It is because people feed the pigeons.

The only way I have been able to keep them at bay in my apartment is with D-con. And now comes word that the EPA has banned D-con, and all other rat poisons on the market. Supposedly, too many eagles, and bobcats, have died from eating rats which have been poisoned in the wild. This is the limit! What will cities like New York do when the ban finally goes into full effect?

Anonymous said...

Why don't we train the rats to chase out the SantaConners? (They are intelligent after all. Community-oriented as well. We just have to convince them we are part of their community and drunkards in red and white suits aren't.)

Laura Goggin Photography said...

There was an incredible amount of bread in TSP on Monday - more than I've ever seen. It looked like a cargo plane of croutons flew over the park and dumped a thousand pounds of it into every grassy/landscaped area. Pigeons, starlings, mice and rats everywhere...we're going to need to import more hawks.

DrGecko said...

Sometimes - not always - you can do a pied-piper thing using a laser pointer. It's fun to play with the rats in the subways. It doesn't always work but often they'll chase the laser dot around in circles like cats.

If you're going to have rats, might as well enjoy them.

Anonymous said...

Rats get fat by screwing the little guys while they pocket bonuses regardless if they drove their comapny and the economy into a financial collapse. Oh, wait, those are fat cats.

Anonymous said...

Easter Island link was interesting. And a bleak reminder that rats can take over and decimate our environment. I really think the population has been growing the past few years and that someone needs to try something new now rather than wait for a catastrophe we have to respond to.

Anonymous said...

It's hilarious. I've actually seen park staff running around, sweeping up leaves as they are falling from the trees. But 10 tons of rat food…?
Meh...