Rat misinformation

[handmeafish]

So... this may be the wrong place to put this, but has anyone watched "Rat Attack" from Nova... Its on Netflix... I haven't watched it, but I've been curious. I'm worried its going to just make me upset if I do watch it.
Obviously this is about wild rats, but I don't think its help any one realize that rats aren't terrible.

Here is the synopsis from Netflix.

The title of this fascinating nature special about an on-again, off-again infestation of rats in the Indian state of Mizoram is no misnomer. Every 48 years, during what the locals call mautam, the rodents swarm, invade homes and attack crops. The reason behind the phenomenon has to do with a crop of native bamboo that blooms only twice a century, setting off a boom in the black rat population and producing an overwhelming surplus.

 

[Bamboo]

So... this may be the wrong place to put this, but has anyone watched "Rat Attack" from Nova... Its on Netflix... I haven't watched it, but I've been curious. I'm worried its going to just make me upset if I do watch it.
Obviously this is about wild rats, but I don't think its help any one realize that rats aren't terrible.

Here is the synopsis from Netflix.

The title of this fascinating nature special about an on-again, off-again infestation of rats in the Indian state of Mizoram is no misnomer. Every 48 years, during what the locals call mautam, the rodents swarm, invade homes and attack crops. The reason behind the phenomenon has to do with a crop of native bamboo that blooms only twice a century, setting off a boom in the black rat population and producing an overwhelming surplus.

lol sounds like a dumb B-movie to me. I can't find it on Netflix, so I can't tell you exactly how bad it is...I wouldn't worry about it. Most people aren't that dumb (and if they are, no one takes them seriously)

I know it's OT but it makes this one always makes me laugh:

 

[Moon]

So... this may be the wrong place to put this, but has anyone watched "Rat Attack" from Nova... Its on Netflix... I haven't watched it, but I've been curious. I'm worried its going to just make me upset if I do watch it.
Obviously this is about wild rats, but I don't think its help any one realize that rats aren't terrible.

Here is the synopsis from Netflix.

The title of this fascinating nature special about an on-again, off-again infestation of rats in the Indian state of Mizoram is no misnomer. Every 48 years, during what the locals call mautam, the rodents swarm, invade homes and attack crops. The reason behind the phenomenon has to do with a crop of native bamboo that blooms only twice a century, setting off a boom in the black rat population and producing an overwhelming surplus.

lol sounds like a dumb B-movie to me. I can't find it on Netflix, so I can't tell you exactly how bad it is...I wouldn't worry about it. Most people aren't that dumb (and if they are, no one takes them seriously)

It's not on Canadian Netflix. But not a B movie. It's a Nova/National Geographic documentary. Looks like the whole movie is here:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/rat-attack.html

 

[Bamboo]

It's a documentary?! Holy crap! That description sounded so much like some dumb horror movie. These stupid "edu-tainment" shows really annoy me. Scratch what I said before: That is bad -people believe anything they see on TV. They'll all but kowtow to Animal Planet and Discovery and the like, and believe everything without question. I was actually just having this conversation about crappy shows fear mongering...Did I mention that it really annoys me :wallbang:

 

[Moon]

I watched a few seconds of it, it actually looks pretty interesting and mentioned that mass seeding phenomenon like what happens with the bamboo may have led to the domestication of chickens. I am going to watch it today.

 

[Spork]

I watched it last night, and it is pretty interesting, BUT I would advise anyone who is squeamish not to watch it... There are a number of shots of dead rats:
(Brief description, spoiler'd for those who'd rather not even read about it.)
[spoiler:5j3pqq0h]Some caught in traps, some being autopsied, some being gutted and roasted for food. Also a HUGE pile of tails.[/spoiler:5j3pqq0h]

Still, I did find it interesting. The description, trailer, and opening sequence make it seem a bit melodramatic, but the rest isn't. Also, IMO, rats weren't painted as negatively as they could have been. The trailer makes it seem like the rats will be portrayed as some malevolent force, but the actual program has a more "these are animals and it's in their nature to breed and eat" attitude.

 

[MomRat]

We recently contacted a rescue in our area that takes in small animals in addition to their primary focus of Dogs and Cats, because their petfinder site says "we spay and neuter all animals" and we thought we'd see if it was possible that they include small animals in that claim. The response we got?

"The risks of spaying/neutering very small animals are very high so as a result, we dont spay and neuter rats or animals that small."

It was all I could do to not email back a scathing, "If that is the level of your education about rat care, please stop rescuing them because you are probably doing more harm than good." Sigh...

 

[fenshae]

I dunno Momrat...in my area, at least, that seems to be pretty accurate. I'd rather the vet know their limits and not do things they're uncomfortable with, than make the claim, "oh, sure! Let's give it a shot!" and then not know what they're doing at all.

Granted, maybe I'm a little bitter because both of my surgeries to date have gone poorly...

 

[Rachael]

We recently contacted a rescue in our area that takes in small animals in addition to their primary focus of Dogs and Cats, because their petfinder site says "we spay and neuter all animals" and we thought we'd see if it was possible that they include small animals in that claim. The response we got?

"The risks of spaying/neutering very small animals are very high so as a result, we dont spay and neuter rats or animals that small."

It was all I could do to not email back a scathing, "If that is the level of your education about rat care, please stop rescuing them because you are probably doing more harm than good." Sigh...

Maybe just me but I think that's a bit unfair. If they think it's too risky that's not a reason to stop rehoming them all together if they are finding rats new homes.

 

[MomRat]

I was slightly exaggerative in what I wished my scathing reply to be - I forget that sarcasm doesn't work online. =) My problem is that, if I were a totally inexperienced rat owner, I might believe them. The appropriate response, which they were perfectly capable of sending, would be "We do not have a vet at this time who is comfortable with spaying and neutering rats" Or, the response I received from a different rescue this week, "we do not currently have the funding to spay or neuter all rats at this time, but we do have a vet that offers a discount to rescues and we can work with you on adoption fee" That rescue, I trust, because they are not spreading false information. The one that stated a lie? No interest in working with them, because now I don't feel like I can trust the info in their petfinder ads.

But we're getting off topic. Sorry.

Someone also once told me they did an 'experiment' in highschool science class which involved having rats and feeding them different diets to prove that "all rats get cancer and die"...

 

[Rachael]

I remember reading that the reason you can't hold a rat by its tail is because it will spin in circles, until it's tail falls off and it can escape from you...

 

[Bamboo]

I remember reading that the reason you can't hold a rat by its tail is because it will spin in circles, until it's tail falls off and it can escape from you...

lol I know it's terrible but that mental image is hilarious!!

 

[Rachael]

I remember reading that the reason you can't hold a rat by its tail is because it will spin in circles, until it's tail falls off and it can escape from you...

lol I know it's terrible but that mental image is hilarious!!

Exactly what I thought :lol:

 

[Kibble]

Actually, there's something I'd be interested to have the veracity of confirmed... When I got my first rats (not from a pet shop, but from a pet food shop selling an oops litter), the shop owner had been feeding all the babies on all the baby food they could eat, as well as rat biscuits. She said the more you fed them as babies, the bigger they'd grow. It was odd, especially as she wasn't selling them by the kilo or anything.