Restaurant Shutdowns May Cause Rats to become Aggressive

2020 has been quite a year. From the Coronavirus pandemic to murder hornets, and now, aggressive rats? According to People, this past Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) came out with a statement saying that "Rodents rely on the food and waste generated by these establishments...Community-wide closures have led to a decrease in food available to rodents, especially in dense commercial areas." So as a result, we should be on the lookout for  "unusual or aggressive" behavior in the coming weeks.

The CDC recommended that homeowners and restaurants should practice good hygiene such as throwing away their trash, so they do not summon any rodents that would be dangerous. Other safety precautions recommended were “sealing up homes...and removing debris and pet food from yards. As the rodents are moving around from place to place to find food, they can also carry fleas or other diseases that can affect or worsen allergies in children.

Rodentologist Bobby Corrigan revealed the survival tactics rats are doing to survive. "...A new 'army' of rats come in, and whichever army has the strongest rats is going to conquer that area...They are going to war with each other... and battling each other for the food they can find," he said

Rats are just like humans and history seems to be repeating itself through this. The rats are conquering places with their families, but other families are coming to stand their ground as well, which leads to these fights between the animals.

"They're mammals just like you and I, and so when you're really, really hungry, you're not going to act the same — you're going to act very bad, usually," Corrigan said.