Rats: Ewww!

Humans are at war.

Our enemies have powers that we can only dream of. They can claw their way up walls. They can collapse their skeletons to squeeze through small spaces. They have teeth as strong as steel.

No, these aren’t villains from a superhero movie. And they’re not aliens from a faraway planet. In fact, they live right beneath our feet.

Rats.

Rats and humans have been locked in battle for thousands of years. It’s a war that has cost billions of dollars and endangered millions of people around the world. We have tried almost everything to defeat our enemies: poisoned them, trapped them, hunted them with dogs.

But so far, nothing has worked. The war rages on.

And scientists aren’t so sure that we’re going to win.   

Humans are at war.

Our enemies have powers that we can only dream of. They can claw their way up walls. They can squeeze through small spaces. They have teeth as strong as steel.

No, these aren’t villains from a superhero movie. And they’re not aliens from a faraway planet. In fact, they live right under our feet.

Rats.

Rats and humans have been fighting for thousands of years. This war has cost billions of dollars. It has endangered millions of people around the world. We’ve tried almost everything to beat our enemies. We’ve poisoned them, trapped them, hunted them with dogs.

But so far, nothing has worked. The war goes on.

And scientists aren’t so sure that we’re going to win.   

Picture a rat in your mind: the grimy fur, the skinny yellow teeth, the bald, wormlike tail. Do you feel a creepy-crawly tickle in the pit of your belly?

It’s not just you. Many people share a disgust for rats.

And there’s good reason for that. Rats have been pestering us for thousands of years. Experts believe the creatures first appeared in Asia. From there, they followed humans around the globe like furry little shadows. They hid at the bottom of ships, helping themselves to the crew’s food and water. When the ships arrived at their stops, the rats scampered ashore.

In this way, rats took over one place after another. And wherever they went, they drove us crazy. They escaped from traps in ancient Egypt. They gobbled up crops in ancient Greece. They snuck into grain storage buildings in ancient India, stuffing their faces and leaving behind stinky droppings.

But over the centuries, as rats spread around the world, they did more than just get on our nerves. They also brought misery and death.

Picture a rat in your mind. Think about the grimy fur, the skinny yellow teeth, the wormlike tail. Do you feel a creepy-crawly tickle in the pit of your belly?

It’s not just you. Many people hate rats.

And there’s good reason for that. Rats have been pestering us for thousands of years. Experts believe the creatures first appeared in Asia. From there, they followed humans around the world. They hid at the bottom of ships. There, they helped themselves to the crew’s food and water. When the ships arrived at their stops, the rats scampered ashore.

In this way, rats took over one place after another. And they drove us crazy. They escaped from traps in ancient Egypt. They ate crops in ancient Greece. They snuck into grain storage buildings in ancient India. There, they stuffed their faces and left behind stinky droppings.

Over the centuries, rats spread around the world. But they did more than just annoy us. They also brought misery and death.

In the 1300s, people in Asia, Africa, and Europe started getting sick. Their bodies burned with fever. Oozing purple sores bubbled up on their skin. Death came within days.

The harrowing disease was called the plague. It spread from one person to another with terrifying speed. Within five years, about 25 million people in Europe alone had died. That was one out of every three people.

At the time, people struggled to determine the cause of the disaster. Was it a punishment from God? Were people being poisoned? No one could have guessed that rats were one of the culprits.

Today, scientists know that rats carry dangerous germs inside their bodies. (This is maybe not so surprising for a creature that crawls through sewers filled with human waste.) Many of these germs can spread to humans and make us sick.

People can get infected by touching rats, eating food contaminated with their pee or poop, or getting bitten. In the case of the plague, the disease is often spread by fleas living on rats. Fleas bite rats, slurping up plague germs along with the rats’ blood. Then the fleas pass those germs along when they bite humans.

The plague is just one of about 20 diseases rats can spread to us. In the past 1,000 years, diseases carried by rats are thought to have caused more deaths than all wars on Earth combined.

In the 1300s, people in Asia, Africa, and Europe started getting sick. Their bodies burned with fever. Purple sores bubbled up on their skin. Death came within days.

The harrowing disease was called the plague. It spread from one person to another with terrifying speed. Within five years, about 25 million people in Europe alone had died. That was one out of every three people.

At the time, people struggled to understand what was happening. Was it a punishment from God? Were people being poisoned? No one could have guessed that rats were partly to blame.

Today, scientists know that rats carry dangerous germs inside their bodies. (This may not be surprising. Rats live in sewers filled with human waste.) Many of these germs can spread to humans and make us sick.

People can get sick by touching rats, eating food contaminated with their pee or poop, or getting bitten. In the case of the plague, the disease is often spread by fleas living on rats. Fleas bite rats. They slurp up plague germs along with the rats’ blood. Then the fleas bite humans and pass those germs along.

The plague is just one of about 20 diseases rats can spread to us. In the past 1,000 years, these diseases are thought to have caused more deaths than all wars on Earth combined.

From Europe, rats made their way over to America. Brown rats, the most common type in the U.S., first arrived in the late 1700s.

By 1926, they had scurried into every state. You could find them everywhere, from the filthiest sewers to the fanciest restaurants. Even the White House has had a rat problem. In the early 1900s, President Theodore Roosevelt used to lead his sons on rat hunts through the dining room.

Since then, the number of rats in America—and around the world—has exploded. That’s because more and more people are living in cities, where rats thrive. The rats feast on our garbage and build their nests in shadowy, damp alleyways. No one even knows exactly how many there are.

What we do know is that they’re causing huge problems. Although we now have medicines to treat the plague, rats still spread diseases to hundreds of thousands of people each year. They gnaw through our walls, pipes, and electrical wires, causing dangerous fires. They eat or destroy as much as one-third of the world’s food supply.

And humans aren’t the only ones rats torment. They scarf down the eggs of birds and reptiles. This has caused dozens of creatures to die out and put dozens more at risk.

From Europe, rats came to America. Brown rats are the most common type in the U.S. They first arrived in the late 1700s.

By 1926, they had spread to every state. You could find them everywhere, from the dirtiest sewers to the fanciest restaurants. Even the White House has had a rat problem. In the early 1900s, President Theodore Roosevelt used to lead his sons on rat hunts through the dining room.

Since then, the number of rats in America—and around the world—has exploded. That’s because more and more people are living in cities. There, rats thrive. The rats feast on our garbage. They build their nests in shadowy, damp alleyways. No one even knows exactly how many there are.

We do know that they’re causing huge problems. We now have medicines to treat the plague. But rats still spread diseases to hundreds of thousands of people each year. They gnaw through our walls, pipes, and electrical wires. That causes dangerous fires. They eat or destroy much of the world’s food supply.

And humans aren’t the only ones rats torment. Rats eat the eggs of birds and reptiles. This has caused dozens of creatures to die out and put dozens more at risk.

Clearly, something has to be done. Leaders in cities around the world have hired pest control experts to set out traps and leave out poison. They’ve even used specially trained rat-hunting dogs.

So far, little has stopped the critters. The number of rats in cities has risen by about 20 percent over the past 10 years, according to Robert Corrigan. He’s one of the world’s top experts in controlling rats.

As Corrigan explains, rats are survivors. “They are amazing at adapting to challenges,” he says. They can live almost anywhere and eat almost anything. (Soap? Delicious! Shoe leather? Yes, please! Glue? Mmmm!) They’re smart, quickly learning to stay away from dangers like traps and poison. Plus, rats have so many babies: A female rat can have more than 200 pups a year.

Clearly, something has to be done. Leaders in cities around the world have hired experts to set out traps and leave out poison. They’ve even used special rat-hunting dogs.

So far, little has stopped the critters. The number of rats in cities has risen by about 20 percent over the past 10 years, says Robert Corrigan. He’s one of the world’s top experts in controlling rats.

Rats are survivors. “They are amazing at adapting to challenges,” Corrigan explains. They can live almost anywhere. They eat almost anything. (Soap? Delicious! Shoe leather? Yes, please! Glue? Mmmm!) They’re smart. They quickly learn to stay away from dangers like traps and poison. Plus, rats have many babies. A female rat can have more than 200 pups (baby rats) a year.

But the biggest problem isn’t them, Corrigan says. It’s us. “We humans do not handle our garbage correctly,” he says. In the U.S. alone, people create almost 300 million tons of garbage each year. (That’s more than 100,000 times the weight of the Statue of Liberty.) Much of that trash ends up spilling out of garbage cans or littering the streets. There, it becomes a tasty meal for rats.

Climate change also plays a role. Air pollution caused by humans is causing temperatures on Earth to rise. Winters are getting warmer and shorter. That’s great news for rats, which become less active during cold weather. They now have a longer warm season to gather food and have babies.

So if rats are monsters, we helped make them that way. And if we want to control them, we have to learn to control ourselves first. There are steps we can all take to help—like picking up litter, making sure trash can lids are tightly sealed, and trying to throw out as little food as possible.

This, Corrigan says, is our best chance of winning the war against rats. “The solution to the rat problem is to pay more attention to our own ‘nests,’ ” he says. “Humans need to take better care of Mother Earth.”

But the biggest problem isn’t them, Corrigan says. It’s us. “We humans do not handle our garbage correctly,” he says. In the U.S. alone, people create almost 300 million tons of garbage each year. (That’s more than 100,000 times the weight of the Statue of Liberty.) Much of that trash ends up spilling out of garbage cans. It ends up littering the streets. There, it becomes a tasty meal for rats.

Climate change also plays a role. Air pollution caused by humans is causing temperatures on Earth to rise. Winters are getting warmer and shorter. That’s great news for rats. Rats become less active during cold weather. They now have a longer warm season to gather food and have babies.

So if rats are monsters, we helped make them that way. And if we want to control them, we have to learn to control ourselves first. There are steps we can all take to help. We can pick up litter. We can make sure trash cans are sealed. And we can throw out as little food as possible.

This is our best chance of winning the war against rats. “The solution to the rat problem is to pay more attention to our own ‘nests,’ ” Corrigan says. “Humans need to take better care of Mother Earth.”

Pet rats aren’t just cute. They’re also fun to play with! Nine-year-old Fallon Shanks and her friends love building obstacle courses for her pet rats.

Plus, you can train rats to do tricks. Ten-year-old Bradan Vincenzi says he’s trained his two pet rats, Ratthew and Mandarin, to solve puzzles and use a litter box. How?

“They’re one of the smartest animals,” he explains. Rats learn quickly—and remember things. In one recent study, scientists even taught rats to drive tiny rat-sized cars!

Just like dogs or cats, rats also have unique personalities. “Some of them have an attitude,” says 15-year-old Dakota Shugrue, who has taken care of 38 pet rats since fifth grade. “Some are a bit more lovey, some are a bit more shy or sassy.”

But no matter their personality, all pet rats have one thing in common: They are very clean. Like cats, they use their tongues to groom themselves—and each other. (Still, you should wash your hands after playing with a pet rat!)

So what do you think? Could a rat be your dream pet?

Pet rats aren’t just cute. They’re also fun to play with! Nine-year-old Fallon Shanks loves building obstacle courses for her pet rats.

Plus, you can train rats to do tricks. Ten-year-old Bradan Vincenzi has two pet rats, Ratthew and Mandarin. He says he’s trained them to solve puzzles and use a litter box. How?

“They’re one of the smartest animals,” he explains. Rats learn quickly. And they remember things. Scientists even taught rats to drive tiny rat-sized cars!

Just like dogs or cats, rats also have unique personalities. “Some of them have an attitude,” says 15-year-old Dakota Shugrue, who has taken care of 38 pet rats since fifth grade. “Some are a bit more lovey, some are a bit more shy or sassy.”

All pet rats have one thing in common: They are very clean. Like cats, they use their tongues to groom themselves—and each other. (Still, you should wash your hands after playing with a pet rat!)

So what do you think? Could a rat be your dream pet?