RI, MA EHS Pest Control Blog

Giant Rat Found Inside Of A Foot Locker Store

Yesterday someone Tweeted this photo of a giant monster rat, supposedly discovered at a Foot Locker in the Bronx. You might recognize this guy, as he bears a striking resemblance to the 3-foot-long beast that was stabbed with a pitchfork in Brooklyn last year. That one was believed to be a Gambian pouched rat, and may have been someone's escaped pet. However, it wasn't the first one spotted in that area, and locals believed they were multiplying faster than Gremlins taking a bath.

With this spotting in the Bronx, we think it's safe to say this superbreed of mutant rat is priming for a takeover of the five boroughs (everyone grab some Mountain Dew). Was there anything in that Mayan prophecy about rodents?

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Rats Nibble at Paralyzed Patient in Government Hospital

An elderly paralyzed man, who was on ventilator support, has been seriously injured after allegedly being nibbled at by rats at a government hospital.

The 70-year-old man was found seriously injured yesterday morning by his family members at the Mathura Das Mathur hospital with his ears, lips, nose bitten allegedly by rats. However, hospital authorities have not confirmed that the man was injured in rat attack. It was brought to our notice by a patient's attendant.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Rats Given 20 Beers in Two Hours, But Recovered Their Balance in 15 Minutes

A chemical from an ancient herbal remedy makes rats almost immune to the effects of alcohol. Rats who've consumed the drug can consume vast quantities of alcohol without passing out, show few signs of a hangover - and don't become alcoholics, even after weeks of solid drinking, say researchers. The chemical is extracted from an ancient Asian remedy - a seed first used as a hangover cure in the year 659. Rats respond to alcohol in a very similar way to humans. The UCLA researchers now aim to find out if the compound will work in humans.

The Asian seeds - from the tree Hovenia Dulcis - was first used as a hangover cure in the year 659, according to Science Daily. The researchers began their study by looking at herbal compounds that supposedly had 'anti alcohol' effects. They rapidly homed in on the Asian seed. They tested one ingredient - called DHM or dihydromyricetin in the rats.

The rats were given the equivalent of 15 to 20 bottled beers in two hours. Most animals passed out, and remained motionless when flipped over. When given DHM, the rats could 'handle' their drink better. They took longer to get drunk, and seemed to sober up in about 15 minutes. The compound seemed to help rats dealing with hangover anxiety, too. Rats recovering from a binge seemed to perk up when given the compound. Perhaps most importantly for medical professionals, the chemical seems to stop rats wanting to drink. Although rats on DHM can drink more, they don't. 'When you drink alcohol with DHM, you never become addicted,' says the lead researcher, Jing Liang in research published in Journal of Neuroscience. The drug appears to work by blocking a brain receptor. Other promising anti-alcohol drugs have targeted the same receptor - but also caused seizures.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Allston Man Charged With Firing Rifle at Rats in Apartment Hallway

A 57-year-old Allston man faced charges today for allegedly firing an unlicensed rifle at rats in the halls of his Franklin Street apartment building because of frustration over an infestation of the vermin, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's office.

William McAbee was arraigned in Brighton District Court for unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, and unlawfully discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, prosecutors said. A not guilty plea was automatically entered on his behalf, and Judge Kenneth V. Desmond set his bail at $2,500, district attorney spokesman Jake Wark said.

Source – Boston.com

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Rats: Holiday Spirit, in Rodent Form

During the holidays, if kids become brats, you can shout with a straight face, “Start acting like rats!’’ According to a study in the journal Science, University of Chicago researchers discovered that lab rats can show empathy — a quality not previously demonstrated in rodents — at levels that are rare even in primates.

Free rats sensed distress in caged rats and worked tirelessly to free them. When chocolate chips were added to the experiment, the free rat did not selfishly gobble them up and let the caged rat languish. It still freed the other rat and shared the sweets. Researchers hope their observations will inform studies of human empathy. Despite the rat’s image as the first creature to abandon a sinking ship, the new finding may inspire a rising tide of concern for one’s fellow beings, especially during the holidays. If even rats put others first, surely humans can, too.

Source = Bostonglobe.com

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Research Uncovers Empathy in Rats

As charges of greed and self-interest fly in these hyper-partisan political times, humans might do well to look to rats for lessons in kindness and caring.

A University of Chicago experiment to determine how much empathy rats have for each other had some surprising results, which were published Friday in the research journal Science.

In laboratory studies, a rat was restrained in a small cage that could be opened only from the outside. A second rat, seeing the predicament of the trapped rat, immediately began tirelessly trying to find a way to free his fellow rat.

Eventually, the second rat taught itself to open the cage door, freeing the restrained rat, leading to what strongly resembled a triumphal celebration between the two. Even when faced with an alternative choice of chocolate chips, the free rat would not be deterred from helping its caged fellow rat.

As simple as it sounds, the experiment is being hailed as a new paradigm that will help scientists trace the development of emotion in mammals back through the evolutionary tree.

Previously, scientists thought that empathy and pro-social behavior to help others were unique to humans, said Jeffrey Mogil, a researcher at McGill University in Canada who has done similar studies on mice.

“This study shows the roots of human empathy didn’t just appear but evolved,” said Mogil, who was not connected with the University of Chicago study. “It is very impressive, showing really robust and conclusive evidence that rats show pro-social (helping) behavior. You can argue why the rats are doing it, but you can’t argue anymore that the rats are doing it.”

The experiment is the work of University of Chicago doctoral student Inbal Ben-Ami Bartal; her adviser, Jean Decety, a professor of psychology and psychiatry who studies human empathy; and Peggy Mason, a neurobiology professor who studies pain modulation and relief.

Decety said it has been proved in past studies that rats also experience a primitive form of empathy called emotional contagion — the sort of thing where if one baby in a group of babies begins to cry, they all break out in tears.

“Ben-Ami came to my lab to do her Ph.D. with an idea of using an animal model to study higher forms of empathy,” said Decety, who enlisted Mason for a study that wound up taking three years.

The team first paired rats of the same gender for three weeks.

Then they placed one of the pair in a small, Plexiglas restraint cage, locked by a door that could only be opened from the outside. The cage was placed in a larger enclosure where the rat’s partner roamed free.

By means the researchers aren’t sure of, the caged rat seemed to communicate its distress to the freed rat, and the freed rat sprang into action.

“The free rat jumps on the restraining cage immediately, pushing it, biting at it, touching its nose and whiskers through the openings in the restraining cage with those of the trapped rat,” Mason said. “Clearly it wants to help out the trapped rat.”

After about six days, the free rat would accidentally open the door and from then on quickly learned how to deliberately open it, and then excitedly interact with its now-free partner as they raced around the enclosure.

“I can’t say that they are celebrating,” said Mason. “But sure looks like a celebration.”

Because rats love chocolate, in some experiments the scientists placed two restraint cages in an enclosure with a rat that already knew how to open the cage door. One cage contained a rat, the other five chocolate chips.

“We wanted to ask how much the free rat valued being able to liberate the caged rat,” Mason said. “They like their chocolate chips, but the free rat would open both cages in no particular order.

“The free (rat) could have done all manner of things to monopolize the chocolate chips, but on average it always left one and a half chocolate chips for the liberated rat. That’s impressive — a hard thing for primates to do — showing it puts equal value on chocolate and freeing its partner.”

Eventually rats that did not know each other were used, and the free rat still worked hard to liberate the stranger from the cage.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Man Contracts Rat Lungworm Disease in Hawaii, Paralyzing Ailment Caused by Microscopic Parasite

Eric Reinert, 22, lost 50 pounds, suffered pain, numbness and nerve damage, but says 'I'm getting better every day'

A microscopic parasite turned a man’s trip to tropical paradise into a medical nightmare.

Eric Reinert, a 22-year-old Minnesota man, has had to learn to walk all over again after contracting rat lungworm disease in Hawaii.

The rare and revolting bug lives in the bodies of rats and turns up in their feces. Snails and slugs often eat the droppings and lay eggs, contaminating water sources.

Rat lungform, or eosinophilic meningitis, can cause permanent nerve and brain damage.

Reinert, who was in Hawaii’s Puna district to learn about organic farming, told WCCO that the illness began with stomach cramps.

Things got worse quickly when the pain spread, leaving him bedridden.

“Just staying as still as I could on my back was the only way I could be at peace for a little bit,” he said.

After a few days, he was unable to cope with the agony and went to the hospital.

Luckily, a doctor figured out that Reinert had rat lungworm, most likely from eating fruits and vegetables that weren’t properly washed.

“A lot of people in Hawaii don’t know this exists, I didn’t know it existed,” said Reinert. “I wasn’t told about it because I’m sure the people I lived with didn’t know it exists.”

The diagnosis was good news but Reinert was still in big trouble. He had to stay in the hospital for nearly a month before being allowed to continue convalescing in his home in Watertown, Minn.

He had lost 50 pounds, experienced the numbness and nerve damage associated with the disease, and relies on a wheelchair.

Still, he’s making progress and his friends have raised $3,500 to help him pay his medical bills.

“Every day it gets a little better,” Reinert said. “It’s kind of a roller coaster with the pain, but overall, that’s what I tell everybody. Overall, I’m getting better every day.”

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Defending itself from a lawsuit claiming that an Illinois man found a dead mouse inside a can of Mountain Dew, PepsiCo contends that a rodent would have disintegrated and been transformed into a “jelly-like” substance between the time of the soft drink’s bottling and the day the plaintiff reportedly purchased the soda from a vending machine at his office. In a court response to a motion filed by Ronald Ball--who claims to have found the dead mouse in a Mountain Dew can about three years ago--PepsiCo filed a fascinating/revolting affidavit from Lawrence McGill, a veterinarian who noted that he was “familiar with the effects an acidic fluid, such as common soda drinks including Mountain Dew, will have on mice and other animals.”

According to McGill, if a mouse is submerged in Mountain Dew between four and seven days, the rodent “will have no calcium in its bones and bony structures.” During those days of soft drink immersion, “the mouse’s abdominal structure will rupture.” Additionally, “its cranial cavity (head) is also likely to rupture within that time period,” McGill noted.

After 30 days exposure to Mountain Dew, “all of the mouse’s structures” would have disintegrated to the point that it would not be recognizable. In fact, “the mouse will have been transformed into a ‘jelly-like’ substance.” The only part of the rodent that could possibly survive, added McGill, was “a portion of the tail.”

PepsiCo contends that Ball, 52, opened his can of Mountain Dew 74 days after it was bottled at a PepsiCo facility in St. Louis. The company alleges that Ball has provided “no evidence” that the mouse was inside the can when it was sealed in August 2008.

In his Illinois Circuit Court lawsuit, which is pending in Madison County, Ball alleges that he opened the Mountain Dew can, “took a drink, and immediately became violently ill such that he began to vomit.” Subsequent to Ball being stricken, “the contents of said can of Mountain Dew were immediately poured into a styrofoam cup wherein a dead mouse was found.”

The rodent was eventually turned over by Ball to a PepsiCo insurance adjuster. McGill, pictured above, subsequently examined the animal and concluded that it was a young mouse or rat, no older than four weeks old at the time of its death. The rodent, according to his affidavit, had not even been born when the Mountain Dew can was sealed, and was already dead when it “entered the Mountain Dew fluid.”

McGill reported that the pH level of Ball’s Mountain Dew can was 3.43, which according to the veterinarian “indicates the fluid was acidic and within the normal range for Mountain Dew.”

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

What do you see??? To the untrained eye you see nothing but to me I see something that 99.9% of the population would overlook. It’s a decaying rat carcass in leaf/grass debris. I am on a property doing a termite inspection and I look around the surrounding area and find this dead rat about 25FT from the building.

I investigate further and find several rat burrows nearby and alerted the property manager who was thrilled I took the extra effort to uncover this. As a result we were able to nip this potential situation in the bud and protect our client.

Sherlock Holmes = You must train yourself to observe what others overlook.

Martin Hussey
Service Specialist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

There is a rodent problem at a southeast Atlanta elementary school.

For months parents told Channel 2 Action New Thomasville Heights Elementary School was infested with rats, and now videos, emails and pictures support their claims.

The school district gave Channel 2's Erica Byfield the documentation after she made an open records request.

Surveillance video from October of this year shows a rodent scurrying through the halls.

Byfield first heard about a possible rat problem from parents.

On Nov. 10, Byfield confirmed the issue after obtaining a letter the school's principal sent to parents.

At the time, one parent told her she saw a rat in the school.

"The rats are so big they look like the size of a rabbits," parent Sherrilyn Cullins said.

An email from August describes why an employee called her supervisor crying uncontrollably.

"A very large field mouse had jumped on top of her when she entered the pantry this morning," the email said.

Another email written in February addresses how big the rodents are.

"They will need a large trap, the visual sight of the rodent is similar to a wood rat," it said.

There are also reports the staff at the school had to throw out food after finding gnaw marks on packages of crackers and pounds of flour and sugar.

The documentation also included pictures.

There are photos of droppings in the kitchen and classrooms, traps officials placed around the school and images of holes in the ceilings and walls. Officials believe the rodents crawled into the building gaps. There was also a photo of a rodent in the copier machine.

An email the school's principal Charles Penn sent to district leaders in October said, "Please be advised that we killed a mouse this morning in a kindergarten classroom and another in my office. Additionally, our conference room copier continued to jam."

The photos also included evidence of changes leaders instructed their staff to make to keep the rats out. There is a picture of a hole in the ceiling someone sealed.

District spokesman Keith Bromery told Byfield as of Nov. 23, the school's staff had not seen any signs of rodents since early November.

Source = cnn.com