rodent – News Stories About rodent - Page 1

Squirrels Turn Out to Be
Murderous Carnivores

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...

Man's Deposit at Animal Shelter: a Thousand Mice

Man Makes 'Crippling'
Delivery to NH Animal Shelter

Nov 16, 2024 9:30 AM CST

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...

In 'Galapagos of the North,' the Hunt for a Mystery Rat

Alaskan Island Is On the Hunt
for a Solitary Rat

Sep 23, 2024 11:55 AM CDT

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 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

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

Oct 25, 2022 12:40 PM CDT

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...

Hong Kong Blames COVID
Outbreak on Hamsters

Jan 18, 2022 9:30 AM CST

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...

1K Cats Descend on Chicago
to Take Down Its Rats

May 12, 2021 9:55 AM CDT

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...

This Is Likely the
First Mammal Lost
to Climate Change

STUDY SAYS

Jun 14, 2016 8:03 AM CDT

This Is Likely the First Mammal Lost to Climate Change

Mosaic-tailed rat has vanished from Bramble Cay off Australia

(Newser) - Way to go, humanity. For the first time in history, human-induced climate change has been found "solely or primarily" responsible for the extinction of a mammal species, according to a new study . The Bramble Cay melomys , or mosaic-tailed rat, was found by Europeans on a tiny coral cay off...

Talk of Sweden:
Rat So Giant
It Terrified Cat

Mar 28, 2014 8:45 AM CDT

Talk of Sweden: Rat So Giant It Terrified Cat

Rodent was 16 inches long, weighed two pounds

(Newser) - Scientists' prediction that giant rats could someday rule Earth hits a lot closer to home when you have a 16-inch-long rodent running around in your kitchen—and that's not including the tail. Sweden is abuzz over a mega-sized rat dubbed "Ratzilla" (unappetizing photos here ), which was discovered...

California Water
Worker Snaps
Pics of Giant
Rodent

California Water Worker Snaps Pics of Giant Rodent

Turns out to be a capybara, the world's biggest rodent

(Newser) - Turns out that a giant 100-pound rodent recently spotted in California is ... well, a giant 100-pound rodent. Called a capybara, it was photographed by a water treatment plant worker who posted the pics—which quickly went viral, the Los Angeles Times reports. "He seemed pretty content," said one...

Tree Rat
Reappears
After 113 Years

Tree Rat Reappears After 113 Years

Red-crested tree-rat walks up to biologists

(Newser) - A rare South American rodent not seen since the Spanish-American War has turned up at the doorstep of a nature reserve in Colombia. The red-crested tree rat ambled up to a pair of amazed volunteers at the El Dorado Reserve in the Sierra Nevada, Wired reports. The last recorded sighting...

Rat Crashes Obama Speech

watch the video

May 21, 2010 6:54 AM CDT

Rat Crashes Obama Speech

Rodent apparently supports Wall Street reform

(Newser) - No gatecrashers at President Obama’s second state dinner, but there was one yesterday as he spoke at the White House. A rodent, presumably a rat, ran across the Rose Garden steps just before Obama walked out to speak (watch the video at left—the rodent gets quite a reaction...

Rats Laugh When Tickled

viral video

Apr 2, 2010 12:02 PM CDT

Rats Laugh When Tickled

And guess what? They like it!

(Newser) - A YouTube gem from 2007 is making the rounds again, teaching us something kind of neat and kind of gross: Rats laugh when tickled. When a Bowling Green University professor decided to try tickling the rodents, and then listening to their resulting high-frequency noises on a “bat detector,”...

Threatened Hamsters Land France in Court

Jun 26, 2009 3:27 AM CDT

Threatened Hamsters Land France in Court

EU aims to force French to save rodent of Alsace

(Newser) - Indifference to the great hamster of Alsace has landed France in hot water with the European Union, the Telegraph reports. Fewer than 200 of the distinctive black-bellied rodents remain. EU officials, charging that France has refused all attempts to protect the tiny animal, are taking the nation to Europe's highest...

China Uses 'the Pill' to Stop Gerbil Overpopulation

Mar 25, 2009 4:55 PM CDT

China Uses 'the Pill' to Stop Gerbil Overpopulation

Officials hide contraceptive meds in gerbil feed

(Newser) - Chinese officials have resorted to contraceptive pills to control the exploding gerbil population threatening a fragile desert ecosystem, the BBC reports. The government is placing feed pellets mixed with the medication by the gerbils’ burrows, which damage the roots of what plants survive there. Authorities have tried measures to boost...

'Mickey Mouse of the Desert'

Dec 10, 2007 6:10 PM CST

'Mickey Mouse of the Desert'

Scientists film endangered critter for the first time

(Newser) - A rare rodent with jumbo ears and a kangaroo hop has been nabbed on video for possibly the first time, the BBC reports. Scientists who braved the Gobi desert recently observed the jerboa as part of a plan to help the endangered and extremely rare mammal. The critter amazed them...