After disposing of 39,650 rodents, a man from Bangladesh has been crowned a rat-killing champion and has been awarded a 14-inch Sony color television for his efforts.
It took Binoy Kumar Karmakara one year to perform the daunting task and he used traps, poison and flooding to capture the animals.
He also kept their tails so that he could keep count.
Killing rats is a strategy that was launched by the government of Bangladesh because rats are responsible for the loss of about 10% of the country’s crops.
Source
Late French designer Yves Saint Laurent's two bronze sculptures went up for auction at Christie's last week. The highest bidder has been revealed: Cai Mingchao.
But Cai, who bid nearly $40 million by phone last week, has no intention of paying.
Cai is a member of China's Lost Cultural Relics Foundation, a group trying to stop the auction and reclaim the two relics, which were once housed in Beijing's Old Summer Palace.
The Chinese say the
bronze rat and rabbit heads were stolen during the second Opium War in 1860 when British and French troops looted and then burned down the imperial palace.
Source
"I know not everybody likes mice and rats but they can be beautiful. I think the headdress is really cute," explained French designer Charlie Le Mindu, 22, who unveiled this creation during London Fashion Week.
Le Mindu’s mice and rat carcass headdress features real rodent bodies.
<------ Oh, and check out the perfect outfit to wear this creation with.
Would you wear this to the grocery store?
To church on Sunday?
How about open house at school?
So - tell me - where would YOU wear this outfit to?
The Pied Piper's services might be needed again in Hamelin, northern Germany - because the rats are back.
An abandoned allotment site on the edge of town has become a haven for rats, with plenty of discarded food and rubbish lying around.
According to legend, in 1284 Hamelin - called Hameln in Germany - was infested with rats but a Pied Piper lured them out of town by playing a pipe.
He later lured the children out too - but the town still celebrates the tale.
Source:
BBC
In old Japan, rats had it good because a white rat was a messenger of one of the seven gods of luck, Daikoku. Because of this connection, they were not killed.
The story goes that a rat couple wanted the strongest husband in the world for their daughter. They asked the sun who declined saying that clouds had more power because they could cover him up.
When they asked a cloud, he responded, "The wind is stronger than I because it can blow me away."
The wind could not make the grade either. " The wall stops me cold," he said.
And the wall, though honored by the offer wailed, "The rat is stronger. He can bore a hole right through me."
So the couple wisely gave their daughter in marriage to another rat who was indeed the strongest creature of them all.
-Senryu
More rat stories, rat photos and rat art at:
Rats in Art(via
Information Junk)
Reuters: The price of rat meat has quadrupled in Cambodia this year as inflation has put other meat beyond the reach of poor people, officials said on Wednesday.
With consumer price inflation at 37 percent according to the latest central bank estimate, demand has pushed a kilogram of rat meat up to around 5,000 riel ($1.28) from 1,200 riel last year.
Spicy field rat dishes with garlic thrown in have become particularly popular at a time when beef costs 20,000 riel a kg.
Hungry?
Here's a recipe for you:
Stewed Cane Rat
Skin and eviscerate the rat and split it lengthwise. Fry until brown in a mixture of butter and peanut oil. Cover with water, add tomatoes or tomato purée, hot red peppers, and salt. Simmer the rat until tender and serve with rice.
Here's a bizarre story:
Imagine spending $1.8 million to purchase a home in Pacific Palisades, California, and finding out that your yard is infested with rats because the deranged old ladies next door are feeding them and treating them as beloved pets.
Imagine that the celebrity you bought your house from knew that rats ran rampant in the neighborhood but didn't disclose it.
Then, imagine that city and health officials have done little to address the huge infestation problem, and the story only comes to light when you've reached the end of your rope and have given up on complaining to government agencies, so you sue the whack-job sisters next door and
tell your story to L.A. Weekly.
(via
unvarnished)
*****A martial arts teacher knocked over by a lion during a photo shoot at Bowmanville Zoo says she is happy to have come away with four broken ribs and a bloodied lung.
The photo session produced a successful cover photo, but from the beginning, the lion was playful and not entirely under the control of its two minders.
Watch video.
(
thestar.com)
***** A keeper at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C, was taken to a hospital and treated for a laceration on her leg after Tai Shan, the zoo's giant panda cub, made "physical contact" with her. It seems the panda had amorous intentions - the keeper was not in the mood. (
via)
(
Washington Post)
***** An eagle ray leaped onto a boat off the Florida Keys and stabbed a woman with its barb, knocking her to the deck and killing her. The animal's barb had impaled the woman through the neck which caused her to fall back and hit her head on some portion of the boat.
(
New Zealand Herald)
***** Chicago car dealers report they've seen a lot more vehicles damaged this year by animals getting under hoods and chewing on wiring. The culprits are typically squirrels, rats or mice. Whether they're taking shelter from the cold or chewing out of hunger, they can cause thousands of dollars in damages.
(
Sun-Times)
***** Rats are invading Thailand - or at least the offices of the ministry responsible for promoting health and hygiene. In the past two days, nearly 50 rats were caught inside the Health Ministry compound in Bangkok, prompting an announcement of a national anti-rodent campaign. The animals have become a nuisance. They bite wires, cables, documents and destroy office equipment.
(
AP)
***** Four steer who escaped from a transport truck during a morning accident made their way to a residential area in Mississauga, Ont. and held the community hostage for nearly four hours.
One steer was eventually shot after it knocked a couple of residents off their feet and charged a police officer.
(
ctv.ca)
I found an excellent site:
suzaku_ekb's journal, which, unfortunately, is entirely in Russian. Ah, too bad. French and Spanish I can muddle through and pick out a word here and there so I get a general idea of what it's about. Russian though, is a total mystery to me.
The photos are so unusual, I wish I could read the journal entries. I bet they're really interesting.
Here's another great photo:
Kats Kritters has some great recipes for
homemade rat treats. Peanut Butter Balls, Apple Cinnamon Drops, and Dried Fruit Balls all sound yummy.
New York city’s health code and state law forbid animals in places where food or beverages are sold for human consumption. Fines range from $300 for a first offense to $2,000 or higher for subsequent offenses.
But many deli and Bodega owners in New York City are defending their right to keep cats in their stores. The cats keep the rat and mice under control - city inspectors contend the cats pose a health hazard.
Many store owners keep cats despite the law, mainly because other options have failed and the fine for rodent feces is also $300.
“It’s hard for bodega owners because they’re not supposed to have a cat, but they’re also not supposed to have rats,” said José Fernández, the president of the Bodega Association of the United States.
Source:
New York Times(
via)
In a curious new tactic, Cicero, Illinois officials are recruiting children to join in the town's decades-old war on rats.
On Wednesday afternoon, a town employee began distributing "Oh Rats," a 16-page coloring book that portrays, in sometimes very graphic terms, just how appalling rats can be.
The book is the latest measure in the city's nearly $750,000 bid to kill rats in Cicero. The town ordered 20,000 books at a cost of $15,000.
One page depicts the rodents scampering in a sack of garbage. Another shows a gargantuan rat flat on its back, tongue stuck out, after snacking on poison. A third panel has a dapper rat eager to dine on dog feces.
The book's panels are accompanied by rat lessons, written by Cynthia Salvino, Cicero rat patrol employee. Salvino said she hoped children will remember, above all else, to keep their town free of dog feces.
"The poop is really the main thing," said Salvino outside the school. "But how do you have them color that?"
