All posts tagged "Rats"

Washington (AFP) - On a hot June night, revelers descend on Washington's Adams Morgan neighborhood, a nightlife and dining hotspot in the US capital. But they aren't the only ones profiting from the good weather.  Also out in number are the city's rapidly growing population of rats, which prowl the alleys behind the restaurants, bars and clubs, feasting on leftovers tossed out in the trash. The rodents' merrymaking comes to a swift halt amid a flurry of barks, gnashing teeth and splattered blood: the result of a hunt involving a dozen humans and their hounds out on a weekly "ratting" expeditio......

Richmond (United States) (AFP) - The girls can't hide their excitement as they're brought out to the racing arena. "Black Tail" is up first, taking a few seconds to sniff her surroundings before placing her paw on a lever and zooming away.  After storming to the finish line, she devours a well-earned Froot Loop hanging on a "treat tree." Black Tail is one of the University of Richmond's rat drivers -- a group that first dazzled the world with their ability to operate tiny cars back in 2019.  Now, the rodents serve as ambassadors for the school's Behavioral Neuroscience Laboratory, headed by Pr......

New York (AFP) - Late on a Friday night, eight dog enthusiasts and their pet pooches prowl several dark alleys in New York's Lower East Side with one mission: to hunt and kill as many rats as possible. The dogs, mostly terriers, pant and strain at their leashes before diving into trash bags and emerging seconds later with a convulsing rodent between their teeth. "They're bred for the job. They're wired for the job. They live for the job," explained Richard Reynolds, organizer of the Ryders Alley Trencher-fed Society, or R.A.T.S. for short. New York's furry rodents are notorious. Legend has it ......