Rats!

Any and all discussion about Dark Conspiracy, the RPG of modern conspiracy horror
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Story
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Rats!

Post by Story »

It's some of the swankiest real estate in Manhattan, and it's overrun with rats.

The Grand Army Plaza Park, in the shadow of the world-renowned Plaza hotel, is home to a burgeoning brood of rodents.

The city park - which borders Fifth Ave. just north of Central Park South and across from the famed fountain in front of The Plaza - is infested with pint-sized, four-legged squatters.

They are frightening tourists and even some jaded New Yorkers.

"They are big. They look like rabbits," said food cart vendor Reese Perez, 60, as he watched the parade of rats from across East Drive on the edge of Central Park.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/201 ... z1VKfL7p00


NEW YORK, NY (PIX11)— There was a time when rats in the East Village was hardly considered news. But since the city stopped laying down poison this summer, the rat population in Tompkins Square Park has exploded.

http://www.wpix.com/news/local/wpix-rat ... 7537.story

The world's largest known rodent, the capybara, was spotted by workers at the Paso Robles Wastewater Treatment Plant and photographed before submerging back into the water, reported Fox 35.
"I received a call from the city of Paso Robles sewer plant," Tom Tognazzini of the Department of Fish and Game told Your Central Coast News. This gigantic capybara is believed to weigh between 100-120 lbs.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/08/ ... z1VKgA1ZfP
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/08/ ... ent-plant/

And now for the weird part -

Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between danger and sex appeal, at least for rats infected with a parasite that twists ancient rat instincts to its own advantage.

The parasite, a common single-celled organism called Toxoplasma gondii, infects all sorts of animals, including rats, in which it causes a strange transformation.

For obvious reasons, rats normally avoid cats. In the presence of cat urine they become very timid — unless they’re infected with Toxoplasma. Research over the past 10 years has shown that infected rats drop their normal fearful “freezing” response, and instead go exploring. They even approach the cat smell.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/23/scien ... asite.html
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Linden
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Re: Rats!

Post by Linden »

Story wrote:

The world's largest known rodent, the capybara, was spotted by workers at the Paso Robles Wastewater Treatment Plant and photographed before submerging back into the water, reported Fox 35.
"I received a call from the city of Paso Robles sewer plant," Tom Tognazzini of the Department of Fish and Game told Your Central Coast News. This gigantic capybara is believed to weigh between 100-120 lbs.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/08/ ... z1VKgA1ZfP
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/08/ ... ent-plant/


There was a capybara sighted near where I live a few years back. It made all the local papers and our town rag even put it on the front page. :roll:
"There's a lot of dignity in that, isn't there? Going out like a raspberry ripple."
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Re: Rats!

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It sounds like an urban legend: giant mutant-looking rats roaming a city housing project.

Only there's a picture.

A photo making the rounds shows Housing Authority worker Jose Rivera minutes after he speared the humongous rodent with a pitchfork at the Marcy Houses.

It's covered in white fur and looks well-fed. It appears to be about three feet long, including its hideously dangling tail.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/201 ... z1WKg75IDf
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Linden
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Re: Rats!

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Been a while since we had a giant rat story, so here goes:

They're on the loose in Florida now.
"There's a lot of dignity in that, isn't there? Going out like a raspberry ripple."
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Morthrai
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Re: Rats!

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One of my favourite things I have discovered recently is that some rats, especially the giant Gambian Pouched, can be trained to detect landmines and sniff out diseases.

Seems like they aren't all creepy or evil... :wink:
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"Superstition is the name the ignorant give to their ignorance"
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Linden
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Re: Rats!

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I was reading that as well, and strictly speaking they're not rats at all. I suppose the Florida ones are just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"There's a lot of dignity in that, isn't there? Going out like a raspberry ripple."
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Re: Rats!

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Man beats giant rat to deathwith canoe paddle.

Check out the video as well. "Wor chucked it on the fyah." Classic . Not very sporting to kill it when it was preggers though?
"There's a lot of dignity in that, isn't there? Going out like a raspberry ripple."
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Morthrai
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Re: Rats!

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Linden wrote:Check out the video as well. "Wor chucked it on the fyah." Classic .

Why man, ya divvent mess a Geordie aboot like! :D
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Linden
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Re: Rats!

Post by Linden »

Yeah, they play by a different set of rules up there. I think it's the old viking genes coming to the fore.

I was inescapably reminded of Alan Partridge's eccentric "friend" Michael and his adventures in Belize.
"There's a lot of dignity in that, isn't there? Going out like a raspberry ripple."
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Re: Rats!

Post by Linden »

High time we had another rat story: Super Rats in the UK, it's official.
"There's a lot of dignity in that, isn't there? Going out like a raspberry ripple."
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Re: Rats!

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Mutant Rats spreading across UK...
"There's a lot of dignity in that, isn't there? Going out like a raspberry ripple."
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Re: Rats!

Post by Linden »

Ghost Ship Full of Cannibal Rats Heading for UK.

Thought this might have the makings of a quick dungeon bash style scenario: The PCs are hired to recover the ship after the owners went bust. When they get aboard they find it infested by rats and down on the lower decks a few Super Rats who would quite welcome a change in diet. The Super Rats have either evolved rapidly as a result of coming out top in the competition to eat each other, or the ship was carrying something that caused them to mutate...
"There's a lot of dignity in that, isn't there? Going out like a raspberry ripple."
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Re: Rats!

Post by Linden »

Giant rats are going to take over the world eventually.
"There's a lot of dignity in that, isn't there? Going out like a raspberry ripple."
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