Rats are the most hated creatures on earth. The most famous and the farthest travelled is the so-called sewer rat.
But these rats are not native to the globe, they came from a place no one would expect. The home of the Vikings, the home of social justice and a smooth and perfectly functioning society filled with socialism and equality. How did sewer rats come from Norway? Well, they did, on ships about two hundred years ago when America became the place to be. Ships from Norway, one of the most travelled cultures who, 600 years before Marco Polo found south America, discovered Canada and traded iron for fur with the native Canadians of the time. This could have been the first introduction of Norway rats to the Continents of America. Now because of the incredible level of global shipping, Norway rats have spread themselves throughout the globe and have taken over every major city on earth. New York City once had a Rat Task Force paid for by the municipal government. Their purpose was to bait the sewers with rodenticide but due to the 2008 financial crash that has ended in most cities and the rat population has exploded. So if you are wondering why you have never seen a rat before but now have a massive infestation, the reason is your municipal government’s cost cuts. So if you have a rat infestation it’s up to you to deal with it.
Rats are very dangerous, they are coated in dangerous bacteria from living in the sewer and their feces and urine are even more dangerous. Plague can still be caught from rats to this day, it is not publicized because it mainly occurs in very developing countries that have problems with sanitation. However, without antibiotics, a rat can indeed cause plague and plague is one of the most deadly and destructive diseases in existence. A disease that bottlenecked Europe. That is not all. If a rat defecated on your food and you do not realize and eat that food you will suffer severe food poisoning and possibly a staph infection which can be fatal. The urine and saliva of rats can also cause this. The urine of a rat has a potent smell of ammonia like your house is permanently coated in Windex. This smell can be a nightmare and getting rid of it may require pulling down walls and replacing a lot of insulation, the cost of which is very excessive and not worth the price and the effort and the suffering when you could have called a professional exterminator who uses commercial-grade tools to prevent the rats from dying in the walls and causing that horrific smells.
