By Lucy Kronzon
The effects of Covid-19 have been detrimental to much of the major cities across America. But it’s not only humans being affected by this devastating pandemic. Vastly outnumbered by humans, with a population of about 2 million only, rats remain rulers of the underground, scampering onto our streets and living off of our leftovers. However, the great changes in our life that the pandemic has altered seem to also have a terrible impact on our despised little furry friends.
Many major cities – and hotspots for the Coronavirus – have seen great fluctuation in the functioning of restaurants. Back in march in NY, Governor Andrew Cuomo implemented heavy restrictions limiting restaurants to only takeout and delivery. Other restrictions and precautions have been taken to shield the city.. However, while the restaurants themselves struggled greatly with this lack of business, so did the rats. Taking whatever they could get, rats would hop on any opportunity, and would more often make appearances in daylight hours. After indoor dining was put on hold, and outdoor dining was the most common option, resteraunt owner Giacomo Romano, interviewed by NBC, reported that “a customer had a baby rat running on his shoe.” The dire situation and lack of food and human population outdoors forced the rats to resort to coming out for food whenever they possibly can.
However, uncomfortable and bold appearances were not the only change to the rat population over the course of the pandemic. These rodents have additionally become considerably more aggressive, and are now divided as a species, fighting amongst one another. A lack of food has led to competition. Over the course of the pandemic, the Center of Disease Control even took the time to release a warning regarding a spike in aggressive rat behavior as they hunt for new sources of food. Bobby Corrigan, a rodentologist who was interviewed for an article in the New York Times observes that “The rats are not being aggressive towards people, but toward each other. They’re simply turning on eachother.”
Yet the aggressive tendencies aren’t the worst of it yet. The rats have been pushed to a point of desperation. Dr. Corrigan mentioned while being interviewed by NBC that “A restaurant all of a sudden closes now, which has happened by the thousands in not just New York City but coast to coast and around the world, and those rats that were living by that restaurant, some place nearby, and perhaps for decades having generations of rats that depended on that restaurant food, well, life is no longer working for them, and they only have a couple of choices.” These choices are quite morbid. Many rats have resorted to cannibalism and infantacide.
An interesting conclusion can be drawn from the behaviors of the rats during a time of desperation. Not only how much they rely on the human population, but also the tendency of animals when in a situation with “no other options,” and the measures that the feeling of desperation can drive animals to.
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b0Okj94znc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgSnwlWolws
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW7CfxHrb-U
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/24/us/cdc-coronavirus-rats.html
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/rats-plague-outdoor-seating-at-nyc-restaurants/2509033/