Beware of ‘aggressive’ rats on the hunt for food during coronavirus pandemic, CDC says
Early in the pandemic, reports of hungry, potentially cannibalistic rats invading urban spaces desolated by the coronavirus where they were accustomed to scavenging for food circulated online.
Now the CDC is weighing in.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidelines for rodent control Friday, citing “an increase in rodent activity as rodents search for new sources of food” — much of which disappeared when restaurants and other businesses closed to slow the spread of COVID-19.
“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 CDC said.
In the 30 days leading up to April 13, NBC News reported Washington, D.C., had close to 500 calls about rodents. Baltimore had about 11,000 — despite what NBC dubbed a “robust rat eradication program.”
Swarms of rats were also seen on the streets of New Orleans desperate for food as early as March, McClatchy News reported, forcing pest control officers to set traps and baits in an effort to curtail their population.
Some thought they were playing. But according to the experts at Pest Control Technology, the rats were actually eating each other.
Bobby Corrigan, an urban rodentologist, told NBC News rats “only have a couple of choices” when a source of food they have relied on for decades suddenly disappears — like the restaurants in New York City.
“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.”
Does that mean rumors of a mutant super rat created by cannibalism are true? Not quite.
It’s not uncommon for rats to turn to eat each other when food is in short supply, McClatchy News previously reported.
Experts say it would take generations for rats to evolve based on intense competition like what’s happening now. In fact, the species’ “entire evolutionary strategy is already built for a situation like this,” according to McClatchy.
In the meantime, the CDC has a few recommendations for people dealing with regular rats.
“Preventive actions include sealing up access into homes and businesses, removing debris and heavy vegetation, keeping garbage in tightly covered bins, and removing pet and bird food from their yards,” the federal agency said.
Environmental health programs should also monitor their populations, which are likely to fluctuate after natural disasters, according to the CDC.
Rodents are also known for carrying disease — not the coronavirus — and fleas, the agency said.
That means pest control workers should be thorough in cleaning up after an infestation, including “using a repellent registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as effective against fleas to prevent flea bites and minimize exposure to flea-borne disease.”
