Fifty-five centimeters from quivering whisker to fat tail, they can chomp through concrete and leap more than 60cm in the air. Sauntering down British streets in broad daylight, they rifle through rubbish and scoff poison as if it was milk chocolate. There is something of the night and also something of the urban myth about the nearly indestructible "super rats" thriving on piles of carelessly discarded foodstuffs. But Britain's pest controllers are adamant: they are receiving more panicky reports of rodent infestation than ever, and it does seem that the rats are evolving.
Over the past five years, the number of infestations of Rattus norvegicus, better known as the brown rat, has steadily increased, according to figures collected by the UK National Pest Technician's Association. Infestation dipped last year by 8 percent but is widely forecast to rise this year, and the association suspects that the true infestation figure only fell last year because fewer people report incidences now that many local authorities charge for pest control services. Meanwhile, people report bigger, and bolder, rats. Pest control professionals recently reported catching one beast in south London that measured 55cm long.
"It's not so much [a] super rat in terms of being 60cm long and 28kg in weight," said Oliver Madge, chief executive officer of the British Pest Control Association. "Food is the key. They have a better reproduction rate and a better chance of survival. [The new rat is] not super -- but it's certainly a strong species coming through because they've got the food and the climate is milder."
But the super rat isn't just a healthier, better-fed rat: "Traditional poisons aren't working," Madge said. "They are eating and feeding from the poison. They can consume what we call a lethal dose and it doesn't kill them."
Experts say the main reason for the rise in the numbers of rats is obvious: society is producing more food waste.
The rats are not the only scavengers whose numbers are increasing. It is not quite an ecosystem that has evolved around the rubbish bin but it is not far off, and various species certainly give each other a helping paw when it comes to raiding our trash. Old-fashioned black binbags are easily ripped open by urban foxes or cats, for example, encouraging mice and rats to feast on what is inside. Virtually rodent-proof wheelie bins are a different matter -- but this is where the squirrels have a role to play.
"It is very difficult for rats to get inside a wheelie bin, but squirrels have learned how to flip the lids open if there is a lip on the bin. They are very dextrous," Madge said.
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