Here are just some interesting facts:
- In Moscow, more than 600 rat bites are officially registered every year;
- In the United States alone, rats bite more than 14,000 people each year;
- The number of rat attacks on people around the world reaches 3.5 million per year;
- Diseases transmitted by rat bites kill more than 2,000 people worldwide every year.
At a minimum, this means that rats attack people quite often - much more often than an ordinary city dweller, familiar with rats only by hearsay, might think. On the Internet you can even find videos of such attacks, although in general videos with real, dangerous attacks are extremely rare.
As for the cases when these animals bit a person to death - in such documentary evidence we are talking about people who could not move or were unconscious. Yes, a rat can attack a person, it is even capable of doing this on its own initiative, and not just in self-defense, but such an attack is always limited to only individual bites, even serious ones and fraught with infection.
Pictured is a rat bite:
Agree, it is difficult to imagine that an animal (or even several animals) of a relatively small size could kill a person who is conscious and able to move.
However, those who like to tickle the nerves are actively spreading rumors about giant mutant rats from the subway that can kill a person, as well as stories about the invasion of cannibal rats and the corpses of people allegedly found in the sewers, gnawed by them. In these myths, the danger of rats is greatly exaggerated, but this exaggeration is not always obvious to the person to whom such a story is told. Many people readily believe in stories and cannot distinguish truth from fiction.
So how can a rat attack on a person actually end? And why, in general, do these animals attack? Are they only trying to protect themselves and their home, or do they really view the person as a victim? Are there, after all, true cannibal rats capable of attacking a person en masse and killing him?
Let's find out...
Why and when do rats attack people?
Almost all cases of rat attacks on humans occur for two reasons:
- The rat attacks in defense of itself or its offspring. This usually happens when they try to remove the animal from a trap, destroy its nest, or try to catch or kill it during a direct encounter indoors (often by driving it into a corner);
- Much less often, an animal tries to bite off a piece of skin or even meat (from a child or a sedentary person in general) in order to satisfy its hunger.
In Russia, rats extremely rarely consider people as food, since they can easily find enough food in safer ways. And they have to attack a person only when he poses a threat to their life (or it seems to them that such a threat comes from the person).
On a note
According to some data, rats bite 1.2 people out of 100 thousand annually, that is, approximately 90-95 thousand rat attacks on people occur every year around the world. Another statistic states that only 1 in 36 people report such bites, meaning in reality the number of rat attacks on humans could reach up to 3.5 million per year worldwide.
In third world countries, in slums and poor areas, where there are a lot of rats, against the backdrop of a general lack of food sources, these animals often gnaw at the heels of sleeping people and even try to bite the soft tissues of the body. On the other hand, here many poor people catch rats for food, and with such a hunt, bites by the animals are inevitable.
But even here we cannot talk about rats that want to kill or tear apart a person - these are simply rodents that bite on the sly (evaluating a person as food), or as part of self-defense.
The outcome of such an attack usually depends on the purpose for which the rat attacks.
Rats. Who are these toothy pests?
Rats are a species of rodent that inhabits the entire world. And there is no place where these tailed creatures are not found: they are amazingly adaptable and omnivorous, which helps them survive in absolutely any conditions. Interestingly, their habitat previously did not cover the islands and continents of America. And they got there only at a time when brave sailors, with a desire to discover new lands, accidentally brought rats with them on ships.
In total, there are about 137 species of rats, as well as 567 of their subspecies and races. In Russia you can find only three of them: the Turkestan, gray and black rat.
These pests go hunting mainly at night, therefore, they can rarely be seen and that is why it may mistakenly seem that they are not in the house at all. They simply reproduce at a tremendous speed: each female can give birth to up to 15 cubs every 3-4 months, despite the fact that the offspring reach puberty after 1.5 months.
These animals are well adapted to living in cities and are practically omnivores. Food includes grain, fruits, waste from the human table and various plants. But they will not refuse to feast on animal protein: attacks on small birds and amphibians are not uncommon.
There are also cases when these animals ate each other. Such a diet makes you wonder if a rat could attack a person to try what it tastes like?
How do rats attack?
The vast majority of rat attacks occur to some degree unexpectedly to humans. Typically these animals attack people in one of two ways.
More often, rats rush at people from a distance, making a jump and trying not so much to bite as to scare a person (they often squeak, almost squeal). This type of attack usually occurs when the animal is scared, cornered and forced to defend itself. An example of such an attack is shown in the video:
In more rare cases, a rodent climbs onto a sleeping person and bites him on an exposed area of the body. The video below shows an example of such an attack:
As a rule, attacks of the first type are the most dangerous. With them, the rat deliberately strives to inflict the greatest damage on the offender, biting hard and more than once. And if a person is confused (for example, a child), he can be bitten quite badly.
By the way, rat bites of sleeping people are often not felt: for example, rats gnaw the skin on people’s heels very carefully, without causing pain. As a rule, a person does not even wake up during such an attack.
It should be borne in mind that when a rat openly rushes at a person, it, first of all, seeks to scare him in order to be able to escape. And if the situation is not in your favor, then it is best to let her do it rather than try to continue to catch her, receiving new bites.
On a note
There is no documented evidence that rats alone or in packs can pursue a fleeing person for a long time or attack him from a hiding place. It is difficult to imagine a cannibal rat weighing about 300 grams that would try to chase and kill a 60-kilogram person.
It is also useful to read: The phenomenon of the rat king and interesting facts about this phenomenon
How did the scientists achieve their result?
For the first experiment, the team trained twenty-four male and female rats to press two different levers that presented them with sugar pellets. So the animals developed a reflex, thanks to which they, without thinking, pressed the same lever that provided a sweet treat. Then the scientists decided to change the experiment in such a way that when the rat pressed the lever, it not only received its treasured candy, but also watched how its neighbor suffered from it.
That is, pressing the lever not only gave out sweets, but also struck a neighboring rat. Of course, the experiment can be called relatively cruel, but scientists had no idea what result would follow. The information received shocked everyone. When nine of the rats heard their counterparts squeak in pain in protest, they immediately stopped pressing their preferred lever and switched to the less preferred one, which still delivered candy.
Dangers of Rat Attacks
However, for whatever reasons, rats attack people, the main dangers of these attacks are always the same: when an animal is bitten, there is a high risk of contracting serious diseases, primarily sodoku and tetanus.
Sodoku is relatively easy to treat, but without therapy it is deadly (its mortality rate in an untreated form is 10%). The disease is accompanied by severe muscle pain, high fever, anemia and exhaustion of the body.
The dangers of tetanus are well known: its consequences include paralysis, nervous disorders, pneumonia, and, in severe cases, death. Even with the use of modern medicines, the mortality rate of the disease is 17-25%, and in remote areas it kills 9 people out of 10 cases.
On a note
Other diseases, for example, various fevers, leptospirosis and typhus, can be transmitted not even through bites, but simply through contact with wild rats or their corpses. For example, if you throw a rat out of a trap, you can easily become infected. And the same typhus or plague is even carried by rat fleas - for infection it is not necessary to have contact with an animal at all.
In tropical regions, when attacked by a rat, there is a high risk of contracting various fevers - Lassa, Argentine, Venezuelan. Lassa fever, for example, causes more than 5,000 deaths annually, with a mortality rate of 30%.
The photo below shows a rat bite:
If the tetanus pathogen gets under the skin during a bite, then the development of the disease is likely.
Meanwhile, rats cannot tolerate rabies, and infection with sodoku or tetanus from rodent attacks occurs relatively rarely. In general, the probability of contracting any disease from a rat bite is about 2% - this is a sufficient reason to avoid such an attack, and after it, see a doctor.
Another danger of rat bites is, in fact, injury. According to statistics, after attacks by these animals, victims are left with:
- Damage to soft tissues characteristic of rodent bites - in 61% of cases;
- Lacerated wounds - in 14% of cases;
- Abrasions - in 12% of cases;
- Bruising without skin damage - in 6% of cases;
- Hematomas - 5% of the consequences of bites;
- Finger fractures - 2%.
Often, during one attack by an animal, a person receives several different injuries at once.
Statistics were collected based on an analysis of about 500 rat attacks on people. At a minimum, it shows that these animals are quite strong and can leave serious wounds on the human body.
The photo below shows a girl who was attacked by a rat:
This is interesting
Using measuring equipment, scientists tested the bite force of an ordinary gray rat: the animal can create a pressure of 500 kg/cm2 with its incisors. This allows him to chew through metal wires and deal with the bones of dead animals, nuts and seeds. Rest assured: to bite your finger to the bone, the rat won’t even have to strain hard...
All these injuries may not seem so significant compared to those that a person receives when a rat deliberately tries to chew off a piece of his flesh. In particular, there have been documented cases where a rat bit off a child’s nose or earlobe, and for many drunk people, animals even chewed off the phalanges of the fingers. In addition, stories are described when rats killed a person who was unable to move and defend himself.
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“A schoolteacher in the Italian town of Bari had just put her three-year-old daughter Simone to bed and went into the next room when she heard a loud, piercing scream from the nursery. Running into the room and turning on the light, she saw a garbage rat scurrying across the room with a piece of a child's ear. The screaming girl was sitting on the bed and holding her head with her hand covered in blood..."
Angelo Maria Perrino, Panorama, Milan, 1979
Rats are one of the most challenging and destructive rodents in the entire world. They eat and contaminate food, damage property, and transmit parasites and diseases to other animals and humans. Rats live and thrive in a wide variety of climates and are often found in and around homes and other buildings, on farms, and in gardens and open fields.
1. Types of Rats and Their Behavior People don't often see rats, but signs of their presence are easy to spot. The most common are two types of rats: the black and gray rat; the remaining species (at least 62 species) live in Australia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania.
Brown or sewer rats are burrowing rodents with a stockier body and are larger than black rats. Their burrows are located along building foundations, under rubbish or wood piles, as well as in damp areas and around gardens and fields. The nests may be lined with shredded paper, cloth, or other fibrous material. When gray rats invade buildings, they tend to stay in the basement or basement. While they typically live at low altitudes, this species can nest wherever people live.
Black rats are slightly smaller than gray rats. Unlike gray rats, their tails are longer than their head and body combined. Black rats are agile climbers and typically live above ground in shrubs, trees and dense vegetation such as ivy. In buildings, they are most often found in enclosed spaces and on upper floors, such as attics, false ceilings and closets. The black rat has a more limited geographic range than gray rats, preferring warmer climates.
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Video. The rat attacked and killed the pigeon
Retreat. This video shows how a rat attacked a pigeon; most likely it caught it by surprise and dragged it into the bushes. The video was filmed in 2015 in New York.
While the rat is much larger than the common house mouse or prairie vole, young rats are sometimes confused with a mouse. In general, very young rats have large heads and legs in proportion to their bodies, while adult mice have much smaller proportions. While rats and mice chew wood, rats leave much larger teeth marks than mice.
Biology and Life Cycle of Rats Rats, like house mice, are primarily active at night. They have poor eyesight, but they make up for this deficiency with a keen sense of hearing, smell, taste and touch. Rats constantly explore and study the area, remembering the location of paths, obstacles, food and water, shelter and features of their habitat. They quickly detect and try to avoid new objects and new foods. Thus, they often avoid traps and baits for several days after their initial placement. While both species avoid novel objects, neophobia is more pronounced in black rats than in gray rats.
Gray and black rats don't get along with each other. The gray rat is a larger and more dominant species and will seek to kill the black rat in combat. When two species occupy the same building, gray rats may dominate the basement and first floor, while black rats will occupy the attic or the second and third floors. Contrary to some beliefs, these two species cannot interbreed. Both species may share some food resources, but will not feed side by side. Rats may grab food and take it to another location to dine on.
Photo. Gray rats drink milk
Gray Rats Gray rats eat a wider variety of foods, but generally prefer grains, meats, fish, nuts and some fruits. When searching for food and water, gray rats typically search an area 100 to 150 feet in diameter; they rarely travel more than 300 feet from their burrows. The average female gray rat has 4 to 6 litters per year and each litter contains 20 or more pups.
Photo. Black rats
Black Rats Like gray rats, black rats eat a wide variety of foods, but they prefer fruits, nuts, berries, slugs and snails. Black rats love avocados and especially citrus fruits and often eat what else is on the tree. When they eat a ripe orange, they make a small hole through which they completely suck out the contents of the fruit, leaving only the sunken peel hanging on the tree. They often eat the lemon peel, leaving the remaining flesh of the fruit hanging. Their favorite habitats are attics, trees and shrubs or vines. Industrial or residential areas with mature landscaping provide good habitat, as does the riparian vegetation of rivers and streams. Black rats prefer to live in areas above ground and rarely dig burrows for shelter.
Black rats regularly travel up to 300 feet in search of food. They can live in landscaping and feed elsewhere. They can often be seen at night on posts or on fences. They have an excellent sense of balance and use their long tails to keep them steady while walking along utility lines. They move faster than gray rats and are very agile climbers, allowing them to quickly escape from predators. They may live in trees or attics and travel down to their food source. The average black rat typically produces 3-5 litters per year with 5-8 pups in each litter.
Damage caused by rats Rats eat and contaminate food and animal feed. They also damage containers and packaging materials in which food and feed are stored. Both species cause many problems as they chew on electrical wires and wood structures: doors, cornices, corners, and wall material and insulation; they tear apart the insulation of walls and ceilings to furnish their homes.
Gray rats can weaken the foundations of buildings due to their burrowing activity and can chew on all types of materials, including soft metals like copper and lead, as well as wood and plastic. If black rats live in the attic, they can cause a lot of damage through their chewing and nesting. They also harm garden crops and ornamental plantings.
Rats can also transmit diseases to humans and livestock, such as murine typhus, leptospirosis, salmonellosis (food poisoning) and murine fever.
2. About rat attacks on people Wild rats are synanthropic animals, whose natural habitat is in and around human buildings: farms, cities, sewers, garbage dumps. In cities, wild rats are more common, especially in areas of lower socioeconomic status.
Wild rats bite relatively rarely; even the number of bites is difficult to determine, since information about bites is greatly underestimated. Urban wild rats bite people of all ages, but they tend to bite children more often. Most bites occur at night, while a person is sleeping. Rats tend to bite parts of the body that are exposed during sleep, usually the hands and fingers.
Rat bites are usually not serious: most bites can simply be washed off and the patient can be released immediately. The infection rate from rat bites is very low, about 2%.
Very rarely, rats can transmit diseases such as mouse fever. Rats do not pose any risk of spreading rabies.
Are wild rat bites really common? It is difficult to estimate the total number of wild rat bites because animal bite statistics are generally underreported. Perhaps less than 10% of all bites required medical attention (Strasburg et al. 1981). One study found that only 41% of bites were reported to public health authorities (Beck, 1981). Even dog bites are under-reported: a study in Pennsylvania found that there were 36 times more dog bites in children ages 4 to 18 than public health officials actually knew (Beck and Jones, 1985).
Rat bites are also greatly underestimated. Visits to the homes of social service providers showed that rat bites were generally not reported by family members (Ordog et al. 1985).
However, in general, rat bites are thought to be relatively rare, even in areas where rats are common. A survey of 1,363 people in Baltimore found that nearly two-thirds of those surveyed (64 percent) reported seeing rats on streets and alleys, but only 6% reported seeing rats inside homes, and only 1.2% had been exposed to some kind of rodent (rat or mouse) bites in their lives (Childs et al., 1991).
Hirschhorn and Hodge (1999) found that rat bite rates in Philadelphia were 2.12 bites per 100,000 people per year from 1974 to 1984 and 1.39 bites per 100,000 people per year from 1985 to 1996.
Where do wild city rats live? Wild urban rats can be found around homes, alleys, sewers and zoos (Childs et al. 1991, Farhang-Azad and Southwick 1979). Rat infestations are associated with areas of low socioeconomic status (Davis 1949, Childs et al. 1991).
Photo. Sydney, Australia, 1900. These rat catchers disinfected Sydney of rats to prevent the spread of bubonic plague in the city.
Childs et al (1998) studied the environmental and social characteristics of the homes of 514 patients who had been bitten by rodents (81% of bites were from rats). The authors found that most people who were bitten lived in poor urban areas. These areas were cluttered with various blocks and beams, there was a high percentage of rental housing and housing less suitable for habitation. The population tended to have a high proportion of ethnic minorities (with the exception of Asians), a large proportion of children and a low number of people over 65 years of age.
High-risk areas tended to be near subways, abandoned stations, railroads and parks, which are potential sources of shelter and food for gray rats. However, areas near noisy traffic and stations are also characterized by equally high numbers of rats (Childs et al. 1998).
2.1. Characteristics of rat bites Comparison of men and women Women are slightly more likely to be bitten than men (51.5% of women compared to 48.5% of men, Childs et al., 1998; 58% of women and 42% of men, Ordog et al., 1985; 52% women and 48% men in 1974-1984, Hirshhorn and Hodge, 1999; 56.5% women and 42.6% men in 1985-1996, Hirshhorn and Hodge, 1999 ).
Age The average age of patients bitten by rats is usually relatively young.
Hirschhorn and Hodge (1999) studied 622 rat bites reported in Philadelphia from 1974 to 1996. The study found that rat bites primarily affected children aged five years and younger, and people over 75 years of age.
Childs et al (1998) found a range of rat bites to range from 1 year to 93 years, with the average age of the person bitten being 22 years.
Ordog et al. (1985) found that the average age of a person bitten was 10.8 years, with an age range of 5 months to 42 years. The majority (74%) of those bitten were under 15 years of age, while 45% of those bitten were under five years of age.
A study of rat bites in Baltimore between 1948-1952 found that 60.5% of victims were under six years of age. Infants who were less than one year old accounted for 24.5% of rat bite cases.
A rat bite study conducted by Richter (1945) in Baltimore from 1939 to 1943 found that 60% of rat bite victims were less than 1 year old.
Comparison by Race From 1974 to 1996, Hirschhorn and Hodge (1999) found that 50% of rat bite victims were black, 28% were white, and 22% were Asian or Hispanic. Blacks and Hispanics were at high risk for rat bites. In this group, the incidence rate among Hispanics was four times higher than among blacks.
Socioeconomic status More bites occurred in areas with families living below the poverty line, which also had the highest percentage of people unemployed. There is a strong connection between rat bites and poverty (Hirschhorn and Hodge, 1999).
Frailty and weakness Ninety percent of patients who were bitten by a rat were either children or had physical or mental disabilities such as diabetes, mental illness, intoxication, or minor wounds (Ordog et al., 1985).
Video. A huge rat attacks cats
Location of Rat Bites All rat bites occurred in patients' homes (Ordog et al., 1985). Hirschhorn and Hodge (1999) found that 92% of bites occurred in the home (67% private residences, 25% communal), while the remaining 8% of bites occurred in other settings (eg, research laboratories and schools).
Hirschhorn and Hodge (1999) found that 53% of rat bites reported between 1985 and 1996 (33% between 1974 and 1984) occurred in residential settings where people were in poor physical condition, unsanitary conditions, both inside and outside.
Activity of the Bitten Person Most people were bitten at night while they were sleeping (72%, Ordog et al. 1985; 54.6%, Childs et al. 1998; 86%, Hirschhorn and Hodge 1999; 100%, Richter, 1945; 80%, Sallow, 1953). One bite occurred when a patient attempted to hand-feed wild rats (Ordog et al. 1985).
Hirschhorn and Hodge (1999) found that the majority of bites (83%) occurred between midnight and 6 am.
What body parts did rats bite? Most of the bites were on the limbs. This is because most of those bitten slept at night. Rats tend to bite parts of the body that are exposed during sleep: the face, arms and hands.
Photo. Fighters show off their catch after a 15-minute rat hunt in the British trenches during the First World War
Ordog et al (1985) found that 70% of rat bites occurred on the upper extremity: arm, wrist, palm, or finger. 18 percent occurred in the lower extremities: leg, thigh, or buttocks. The remaining 12% of bites were to the face. Most of these bites were made to areas of the body that the person exposed during sleep.
Childs et al (1998) found that 59.8% of bites occurred on the upper extremity: arm, wrist, palm, or finger. 28 percent were to the lower extremities: legs or toes, while 9.3 percent of bites were to the head, face and neck. The remaining 2.9% of bites were to other areas of the body.
Photo. Rats captured in German trenches during the First World War
Hirschhorn and Hodge (1999) found that 48.3% of bites were on the hands, 19.6% on the head, 15% on the feet, and 7.1% on the legs.
Richter (1945) found that 48% of bites were on the arms and hands, 20% on the face and 19% on the legs and feet, with the remaining 13% on the rest of the body.
Bites by Season Hirschhorn and Hodge (1999) found that the majority of bites (48%) occurred from May to August.
Characteristics of Rat Bite Wounds 61 percent of bites were bites only, 14 percent were lacerations (less than 1 cm), 12% were abrasions, 6% were bruises (bleeding into the skin), 5% were hematomas (bruises), and 2% were fractures (one patient had a fractured finger). Twelve percent of patients suffered from multiple types of wounds (Ordog et al. 1985).
Course of Treatment and Infection Most rat bites were not serious. Childs et al (1998) found that most bites could be simply washed off and 98% (514 patients) were released immediately. Ordog et al (1985) studied 50 patients who had been bitten by rats and only one patient (2%) developed a bacterial infection that required the use of antibiotics.
When the bite wounds were washed, only 30% of the wounds tested positive for bacteria. Of these, 43% were represented by staphylococcus. The others were: Bacillus subtilis, Cornibacilli and group alpha hemolytic streptococcus (Ordog et al., 1985).
3. Diseases transmitted by rat bites Diseases transmitted by rat bites are rare. In two studies that looked at 514 and 50 patients bitten by rats, no patient became ill from the bite (Childs et al. 1998, Ordog et al. 1985).
Very rarely, a rat can transmit mouse fever (Graves and Janda 2001, Grude 2001, Schurman et al. 1998, Hagelskaer et al. 1998, Hockman et al. 2000, Weber 1982) or cowpox (Marennikova et al. 1988, Postma et al. 1991). Transmission of rabies from rats is very rare and has never been documented in the United States. However, several cases of rabies from rat bites have been reported in Poland (Zmudzidski and Smrekzek 1995, Wincewicz 2002), Israel (Gdaljewicz et al. 2000), Thailand (Kamoltan et al. 2002) and Suriname (Verlinde et al. 2002). , 1975).
All diseases that are transmitted to humans by animals are called zoonoses. And of course, rats can spread disease by definition. These diseases can be viral, rickettsial, bacterial, protozoan or helminthic. To understand what it is, this information is for you.
Bacterial Diseases Rat Bite: This is not actually a viral disease, but it is often the cause of one. Contrary to popular belief, rats do not usually attack people unless they are cornered or left with an escape route.
There are many cases of rats biting children and disabled people for no obvious reason. This usually occurs in areas where living conditions, due to poor hygiene and environmental sanitation, favor the appearance of rodents.
Death is unlikely to occur as a result of a rat bite, but secondary infection caused by the bite may result. Tetanus, leptospirosis and rat bite disease occur regularly.
Another less common disease known as Sadoku, caused by Spirillum minus, is transmitted through the saliva of rats and sometimes mice.
After 3-10 days, the primary lesion results in swollen lymph nodes, fever, and arthritis symptoms. If left untreated, up to ten percent of cases result in death.
Salmonellosis (food poisoning) Rats and mice live in areas where food or pet food is stored, prepared, or sold. They are often contaminated with rodent droppings, urine or hair, which contain bacteria that cause illness. The best known of these bacteria is Salmonella.
Hemorrhagic fever It exists in different countries. It may be referred to as Russian encephalitis (RSSE), central European encephalitis (CEE), and Lassa fever. The above transmission occurs through food contaminated with urine.
Deaths may occur in up to 50% of those infected.
Argentine hemorrhagic fever This endemic disease originated in the north of the province of Buenos Aires, especially in the Chacabuco region, is transmitted by rodents of the genus Calomys, it is very associated with the harvesting and harvesting of cereals, therefore it is known as “stubble disease”, infection occurs through the urine of these rodents. Symptoms: general loss of strength, flu-like condition and constant fever. There is a high mortality rate.
Viral diseases: Lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM): First reported in 1933, this disease of humans and domestic animals is caused by a virus of the arenavirus group (Arenaviridae). The house mouse is the main carrier of the virus. An infected mouse usually dies, but those that manage to survive and their offspring become latent carriers of the disease.
Rabies This disease, also called hydrophobia, is one of the most common and usually fatal diseases in humans. It can potentially be transmitted through contact with an infected animal, most commonly dogs. It is very rare for a rodent to transmit the rabies virus through direct infection. The disease has spread in recent years due to rabies in cattle transmitted by bats.
About the passion of rats for human blood Of course, we all know that rats are capable of biting corpses. But that's simply because they're scavengers, right? Rats are not picky when it comes to food, everyone knows that. But this is not entirely true. There is one thing that rats seem to love more than anything else and they will risk everything to get it again and again - your blood.
A 22-year study of urban rat bites found that the greatest number of bites occurred between midnight and 8 a.m., when a person was sleeping peacefully in bed, unaware that a rodent had bitten him. And this is not an exaggeration; rats most often bite the limbs and face.
They may bite you once or twice, but this may be an act of self-defense or desperation. This is not true, this is how they usually hunt humans. But why? If this is not protection and there are many other foods on earth, why do they do this?
We have actually already answered you. You might think this is a joke, but it's not. Rats will repeatedly attack their prey because they are seriously out for blood.
In 1945, Professor Richter conducted a study to see what exactly attracted rats to humans. He gave a group of rats access to a large amount of blood and found that within 24 hours they consumed it, despite the fact that this "food" they ate four times more than they usually eat other foods in a day. In fact, Richter concluded: “rats can develop a real thirst for fresh human blood.”
Do you think you can calm them down with milk? But since rats have their own passion and live near you, it is only a matter of time.
4. What to do if you are bitten by a rat Never let rats bite you, it is really dangerous for your life.
Seriously, rats and other rodents have nasty bites that can lead to serious infections. After a bite, you should always check whether the animal has an infection.
Act quickly and monitor the patient for at least 10 days.
What to do Stay in a safe place. Don't go near wild rats, as a rule they are more afraid of you than you are of them, but don't count on it too much. If the rat is a pet and its owner is someone you know, entrust him with keeping you safe. If a rat bites or scratches you, leave it alone.
If the bite victim exhibits any symptoms of illness, seek immediate medical attention.
1. It is worth taking universal precautions and carrying personal protective equipment with you, if available.
2. Stop any bleeding and take appropriate action. Avoid using a tourniquet unless the bleeding is severe and cannot be stopped by any other means.
3. Once the bleeding has stopped, wash the wound with soap and warm water. Clean the wound, making sure to remove all soap as it can cause irritation later.
4. Cover the wound with a clean, dry bandage. Before this, you can apply antibiotic ointment to the wound. A rat bite often leads to infection. If the injury is on a finger, remove all rings from the injured finger before it swells. Watch for signs of infection:
5. Always consult your doctor. The wound may need stitches. Since rat bites are often deep, this gives a special impetus for the development of infection: Redness; Tumors; Heat; Appearance of pus.
6. Wounds on the face and hands should always be evaluated by a physician due to the potential for scarring and disability.
7. Rat bites may be contaminated with the bacteria Streptobacillus moniliformis and Spirillum minus., which is common. These infections can lead to rat-bite fever. Symptoms of rat bite disease can appear up to 10 days after the bite and most likely appear after the wound has already healed. Watch for: Fever; Headache; Vomiting; Pain in the back and joints.
8. 2-4 days after the fever starts, a rash may appear on the arms and legs and one or more large joints may become swollen, red and painful.
Tips: 1. Remember that infection is the main concern with any animal bite and especially a rat bite. Keep the bite area clean throughout treatment.
2. There is a common misconception that rats are the main source of rabies. In fact, we are more likely to get rabies from bats than from any other animal. Raccoons are the most likely species to have rabies, followed by bats, skunks and foxes. Transmission of rabies to humans from rodents is extremely rare.
This entry was published on Friday, March 18, 2021 - 10:11 am. You can leave a comment.
What is known today about cannibal rats?
As noted above, there are quite well-known and frequent cases where rats gnaw off the hardened skin on a person’s heels. This usually happens when the victim is sleeping, and often the attack ends in serious trouble - the animals get to the soft tissues, and the wounds here do not heal for a very long time due to constant restlessness when walking.
When the rats realize that a person cannot harm them, they calmly gnaw off more and more pieces from his body. It was rats that killed a huge number of prisoners in prisons and captives in military camps in the Middle Ages: people were tied up, their ability to move was severely limited, and hungry rodents boldly (and competently) chewed on them, leaving bleeding wounds. A person usually died either from blood loss or from blood poisoning.
If a person is paralyzed or unconscious, they may suffer the same fate.
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“This incident took place in Naples. 77-year-old Vittoria Chipula had not appeared in public for several days, did not answer phone calls, and one of her acquaintances decided to check on her. In the house, he saw a terrible picture: a woman was lying on the bed, and her body was completely nibbled by rats. It is not known whether the woman died before the rodents attacked, or whether they bit her while she was alive...”
Angelo Maria Perrino, Panorama, Milan, 1979
There is information about the terrible torture that guilty prisoners were subjected to in Stalin's labor camps: a person's hands and feet were tied, after which he was put in a large barrel, into which hungry rats were released. A few days later, corpses with their stomachs eaten away were taken out of the barrels. There were other options for torture...
It is also useful to read: Black rats: photographs and interesting facts about the life of these rodents
And yet, we cannot talk about specialized cannibal rats. These animals are omnivores and eat any meat: whenever possible, the rat eats entrails and gnaws bones, and if it finds the corpse of any animal or person, it will bite off pieces of it too. The animal may not notice the difference between a corpse and an unconscious person.
That is, by and large, real cannibal rats are the most ordinary rats, eating everything, but by chance they simply found themselves next to the motionless body of a person and did not disdain to feast on it.
But rats that feed exclusively on human flesh are not known to science today. Moreover, there is no evidence that these animals can attack healthy people and bite them to death. Even an invasion of rats in certain areas never leads to human casualties. For example, from different Russian cities, rat infestations are reported with varying frequency, but no tragic cases follow these events.
On a note
The largest rats on the planet are completely safe for humans. These are African marsupial rats and Bosavi woolly rats, reaching a length of more than half a meter and weighing several kilograms. They never attack people. The former are specially trained and used in military units to search for mines, the latter are very rare, and when meeting a person in nature, they do not pay attention to him and do not show any aggression.
Ironically, the most aggressive rats are the small basement animals that are accustomed to the fact that the basement is their territory.
How to avoid being bitten?
To prevent a rat from biting you, just follow simple rules:
- try to avoid vacant lots and abandoned buildings, be careful when going down into basements and passing areas with garbage cans;
- when meeting a rodent, do not try to catch it, do not make sudden movements;
- Having discovered a nest with pups, do not touch them; the mother is most likely nearby and will rush to protect the cubs;
- if the rat behaves aggressively, you should carefully retreat (you can scare the animal away by splashing water at it).
Pet rats must be handled carefully so as not to hurt them - do not lift or pull the tail, do not squeeze too hard.
Do rats attack pets?
But rats are much more dangerous for domestic animals than for humans. At a minimum, because they boldly attack birds and mammals of comparable size to themselves, be it a mouse, a hamster, a duckling or even an adult pigeon, and always during such attacks they expect to kill and devour the prey.
Moreover, in pursuit of prey, rats can demonstrate amazing strength and agility. For example, they can catch ducklings in the water, climb walls into bird nests, and fearlessly bite the paws of large birds.
And when confronted with a cat, the rodent often boldly attacks it, hoping to stun the enemy with a daring attack, gain time and escape. The video below shows a rat attacking a cat:
On a note
The famous zoo owner Karl Hagenbeck's rats killed three elephants in one night. They gnawed the giant animals' feet very badly, and the elephants developed blood poisoning.
In countries where rat infestations occur with varying frequency, these animals can completely ruin small farms.
In the wild, rats are also very aggressive. They attack albatross chicks in their nests, destroy mouse nests, and eat tadpoles, small frogs and lizards.
The video below shows a unique case in which an adult rat boldly attacks a snake, saving its young:
Carriers of infections
The danger of rats
What is dangerous about rats and mice and their bites is that rodents are carriers of many infectious diseases, including such deadly ones as tetanus and rabies, as well as:
- leptospirosis - caused by leptospira, affecting internal organs and the nervous system, the mortality rate from it is 16% of the number of patients; the disease is manifested by high fever, pain in the head and calves, and enlarged liver;
- listeriosis – pathogenic bacteria-listeria are transmitted, especially dangerous for pregnant women, causing miscarriage;
- toxoplasmosis – when pregnant women are infected, the fetus is affected;
- yersiniosis - manifests itself as severe intoxication, affecting the gastrointestinal tract, musculoskeletal system and liver, causing severe pain in muscles, joints, head, severe diarrhea and nausea.
Do pet rats bite?
Of course, a domestic tame rat can also bite a person. If you tease her, try to take away her food, abruptly wake her up, or unexpectedly pick up her baby, then there is a high probability that the animal will bite her finger. Such attacks are committed without any “malicious intent” - the animal is simply trying to tell the person in a way that is accessible to him that he doesn’t like something.
If a rat is tame, then it will definitely not try to bite off its owner’s nose or gnaw his heels.
On a note
Therefore, by the way, stories about Afghan man-eating rats, which were allegedly brought to Russia under the guise of decorative dachshunds, were kept as pets, but which, they say, could at any moment remember their aggressive rat nature and attack the owners, cause serious skepticism.
So, a short summary: rat attacks on people are indeed quite possible and, moreover, happen quite often. In most cases, rodents attack people in self-defense, but sometimes they may consider sedentary prey as a potential source of meat. However, there are no real cannibal rats in the world: there are no huge mutant rats capable of tearing apart a person alone, and there are no rodents that attack people in large groups and specialize specifically in feeding on human flesh.
This means you shouldn’t be afraid that rats will attack you somewhere and want to bite you or, moreover, devour you. If you don’t get into trouble yourself, don’t stay overnight in dubious places and don’t try to kill a running rat, you won’t be at risk of being attacked by the animal at all.
An example of a rat biting children while they slept
Differences between rat bites and bites of other animals
A rat bite looks like two rather deep, most often bleeding wounds, consisting of two closely spaced punctures - marks of the upper and lower incisors, respectively. It is from such a trail that one can understand that the attacking animal was a rat. It is true that it is quite difficult to distinguish a rat bite from the bite of another rodent, since they are very similar in appearance. True, the rat's teeth marks are larger.
But in general there is no special need for such a diagnosis, since bites of any rodents are equally dangerous and require similar treatment.
How to Avoid a Rat Bite
Some people will never experience rat aggression in their entire lives. But for individuals this can happen at the most unexpected moment.
To avoid the possibility of being bitten, it is useful to adhere to the following recommendations::
- try not to be near landfills, sewers, or abandoned basements. But if for some reason a person ends up there, then you need to be careful to avoid contact with rodents.
- If rats are found in a living space, you should not try to get rid of them yourself. It is better to invite special services employees and leave the house for a while.
- If you encounter a rodent on the street, it is important not to provoke its aggression by trying to catch it, photograph it, or do anything else like that. And if the animal itself shows menacing intentions, then you can scare it away by sprinkling water.
Most often, a rat bites only if it has serious reasons for doing so. This is completely avoidable. But if a person nevertheless becomes a victim of rodent aggression, then correct and timely provision of first aid followed by treatment guarantees his full recovery.
They are the champions of hide and seek
Movie monsters are masters of camouflage: they either attack from around the corner or manage to remain unnoticed in plain sight. Cthulhu lurks at the bottom of the sea, Freddy Krueger exists as an abstract concept in the nightmares of his victims, and Predators can literally turn invisible.
And here everything is written like rats. This doesn't mean that finding a rat in your home is a difficult task. This means that even a team of trained specialists armed with the latest technological developments may be powerless here.
We know what we're talking about. A group of scientists, hoping to learn something new about the life and movements of rodents, took a single rat named Rasputin to a lonely island near New Zealand, where there had been no rats before. Previously, they took a DNA sample of their ward. Then they put a special electronic collar on the rat, and for four weeks they studied where the rat sleeps, where it eats, what routes it moves, and everything like that.
Then the scientists decided for some reason to catch this rat. Despite the traps (there were more than three dozen of them), despite all the baits and tricks, despite the efforts of two specially trained dogs, nothing worked out for them. Worse, at some point the radio signal from the device attached to the animal stopped receiving, and hopes of finding the rodent disappeared like smoke.
Surprisingly, Rasputin was still found: 18 weeks later and on another island - about half a kilometer from where he was released. Nobody knew that rats could swim so far.
Are the bites of ornamental rats dangerous?
Pets can also become aggressive. Most often, a bite from a domestic rat is associated either with the unbalanced character of the animal or with improper handling of it. If you are bitten by a domestic rat, you need to do exactly the same as if you are bitten by any rodent - wash, treat and bandage the wound.
The threat of contracting an infectious disease in this case is minimal. But if a decorative rat bites constantly, the first thing to do is to think about it and either change the conditions in which the animal is kept, or seriously engage in its upbringing.
The situation when a domestic rat bites until it bleeds is quite rare. More often, the rodent only bites the skin while playing or expressing dissatisfaction. A strong bite is most often provoked by pain caused to the animal.
Difficulty getting rid of
Rats are quite tenacious, and it is not possible to destroy them using just one method. Their keen sense of smell gives them advantages over all types of pests. You can’t fool them with bait, and even more so using standard poisons. Folk "therapy" of housing has an extensive knowledge of recipes for controlling rodents. Therefore, experts recommend using two or three on your own at the same time.
Ash and glass
Both ingredients are excellent ways to kill adults and small creatures. The rats will fly off for their fur. Therefore, ash or broken glass that gets into the crumbs, almost into dust, settles on it and, when licked, ends up in the animal’s stomach. They will not be able to withdraw in the usual way. The gravity prevents the rats from moving and they die. But after the death of relatives because of this, rodents will no longer enter a room with such mounds on the floor.
They are indestructible
This quality unites many movie monsters, especially serial ones: you kill them, you kill them, and by the time the next part comes out they are as good as new again.
Well, what do rats have to do with it, you ask. Common rodents. No hint of immortality. They can be anything they want, but considering them invincible is too much.
However... What is the surest way to kill a rat? I? So here it is. When rats find food they aren't sure is safe, they taste (.pdf) it first—just a little. And if they feel somehow wrong, they don’t touch this food again. They are well aware of our insidious plans and know how to destroy them.
In addition, we are increasingly faced with a completely new variety of these creatures, which scientists have already nicknamed “super mutant rats”, which are no longer affected by practically any poison.
Rules for first aid for bites.
Typically, aggressive animals bite into the arms or legs. Moreover, the moment of the bite itself may be unnoticed, since sharp teeth instantly pierce the skin, and painful sensations arise after a few seconds. Rat bites to the face and neck are especially dangerous. In these places, the skin is thin, the blood vessels are located close, so the pathogen penetrates the body very quickly. After a rat attack, it is necessary to provide first aid to the victim: wash the wound, apply a bandage and consult a doctor.
If bleeding comes from a wound, do not try to stop it immediately. Harmful bacteria are released along with the blood, which reduces the risk of contracting dangerous rat diseases. Then the wound should be washed thoroughly, preferably with laundry soap. The alkali contained in soap perfectly neutralizes the rabies virus. For superficial skin damage, treatment of the bite should last at least 5 minutes, for deep damage - up to 10 minutes. It is a good idea to wash the wound with a strong stream of soapy water, such as from an enema, to wash away all the bacteria from deep in the wound.
After washing with soap, the bite site is additionally treated with an antiseptic, furacelin or hydrogen peroxide, and iodine is applied to the edges of the wound. Then an antibiotic ointment is applied to the wound site and secured with a sterile bandage.
The next mandatory step is a trip to the emergency room or clinic. It does not matter whether the wound is extensive and deep or minor skin damage. It is not uncommon for simple wounds to develop into serious illnesses. This is because minor rodent bites are not given due attention, and the medical facility is not visited. After examining the wound, a qualified doctor will prescribe treatment and, if necessary, vaccinate against rabies and tetanus.
They'll still get you
Monsters from classic horror films are scary not only and not so much because of their bloodthirstiness. They are almost unstoppable - this is what makes us squeeze into our chairs. You can lock yourself up as many times as you like and take any precautions you want, but if Jason from Friday the 13th, Freddy from A Nightmare on Elm Street or some "Woman in Black" is hunting you, you have a chance... yourself you understand.
It's the same story with rats. Even though you might hurt yourself trying to figure out how to protect your home from them, if a rat decides to come visit you, he will do it, rest assured. It costs nothing for a rat to climb up any ventilation. Let's say you provided for this possibility and plugged all the holes. However, as it turned out in the course of one study (.pdf), it costs nothing for a small rat to lift an object weighing more than a pound (~0.5 kg; approx. mixstuff.ru), if it has suspicions that the parquet flooring is more appetizing on the other side .
They can squeeze into tiny holes - no more than a quarter of the rat's girth in diameter. This is an almost finished T-1000 from the second part about the Terminator: cover it with a steel net and it will leak between the bars before you can blink an eye.
They have another favorite way to penetrate our homes - through pipes. Moreover, four centimeters in diameter is quite enough for them. And yet, they are champion swimmers. Combine these two skills and you get an animal that might one day emerge from your toilet. And such cases are not uncommon.
Let's say you manage to block this opportunity for them - so what? If they have already taken on you, they will gnaw a separate entrance for themselves through the wall, and they will not lose anything. Nature (apparently to keep us on our toes) has endowed rats with incredibly strong, even for rodents, jaw muscles. And while some bunny is peacefully gnawing on the bark of a tree, give these small creatures brick, cement and even lead. Their incisors grow throughout their lives, and they have no choice but to constantly grind them down.
