# Myths and rats.



## Ratty1100 (Nov 17, 2007)

What myths have you heard?
Or strange facts which may be true?


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## Marysmuse (Apr 28, 2008)

How about that horrid rat-bundle thing that some one posted about a while back... a rat king, I think it was called? Check wikipedia for a picture. Ugh ugh ugh.

I've heard about wild (obviously) rats slipping into the cribs of babies and biting them. I can't see it being true... I should think housing infested with rats would be providing plenty of easier scavenging for them- garbage and the like. Still, the story gave me the willies.

Rejoicing in the day,
-Mary


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## Ophelia (May 25, 2008)

This one might be gruesome, but I always heard from my dad that in Asian countries during the war(s) they tortured prisoners by placing a rat on their stomach and covering it with a metal bucket (or something) and then heating that somehow. When the rats get too hot they free themselves by chewing through the abdomen of the prisoner. I have never bothered to do the research to find out if it's true, but that's a pretty good myth or strange fact that might be true. Depending on which it is.


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## KayRatz (Apr 5, 2007)

Ophelia, I saw that on a "The Fast and the Furious" movie [or whatever - name slips me].

I have seen a dog that lived in rat-infested house being rescued on animal cops and it was covered in rat bites.

I was told by a guy on YouTube that touching rat pee makes you sick and kills you.  Do I look dead? Uh...


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## CeilingofStars (Apr 21, 2008)

The worst myth is that rats are dirty. It's so ironic since rats are some of the cleanest animals. That one has always bothered me!


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## Mana (Apr 22, 2007)

Oh, I've heard tons! My favorite is that rats eat people... and that if one of my rats ever escaped, she'd eat me while I sleep :roll:

That bucket thing is horrible though, if it's true


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## CeilingofStars (Apr 21, 2008)

I kind of don't believe the bucket thing...wouldn't the rat knaw through the bucket before human skin? Hmm...I s'pose not if it was a wild rat, maybe.


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## pinkpixies (May 22, 2008)

My uncle told me that if you shoot at rat, the bullet will bounce off it...LOL wtf...


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## MariHxc (May 23, 2007)

CeilingofStars said:


> I kind of don't believe the bucket thing...wouldn't the rat knaw through the bucket before human skin? Hmm...I s'pose not if it was a wild rat, maybe.


they'd use a metal bucket. flesh is easier to scratch and bite through than metal..


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

Ratty1100 said:


> What myths have you heard?
> Or strange facts which may be true?



#1 myth 
You can stop at one

That one is just as false as the one about being able to stop at one potato chip. Myth-busters proved this & at the same time they also verified the existence of the highly contagious communicable disease referred to as GGMR within the rat community. 

ok, all of the above is complete (cough-cough) but it is a fact non-the-less... you can't stop at one rat!


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

Ophelia said:


> This one might be gruesome, but I always heard from my dad that in Asian countries during the war(s) they tortured prisoners by placing a rat on their stomach and covering it with a metal bucket (or something) and then heating that somehow. When the rats get too hot they free themselves by chewing through the abdomen of the prisoner. I have never bothered to do the research to find out if it's true, but that's a pretty good myth or strange fact that might be true. Depending on which it is.


Not sure if it were the Asians that started that or if it was Medieval Europe. I know for sure they used a method much like mentioned here (too gruesome to state the specifics) along with various other applications involving rats.

Yes gruesome but the fact that these creatures were used in this way adds to the negative stigma that so many people still harbor for them today.


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## frost_love_bite (May 13, 2008)

KayRatz said:


> Ophelia, I saw that on a "The Fast and the Furious" movie [or whatever - name slips me].
> 
> I have seen a dog that lived in rat-infested house being rescued on animal cops and it was covered in rat bites.
> 
> I was told by a guy on YouTube that touching rat pee makes you sick and kills you.  Do I look dead? Uh...


what a stupid myth! touching pee?? man I would of died 100 times! Lol! some people are plan stupid!


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## mel2mdl (May 30, 2008)

frost_love_bite said:


> KayRatz said:
> 
> 
> > Ophelia, I saw that on a "The Fast and the Furious" movie [or whatever - name slips me].
> ...


Ummm... actually hantavirus in Arizona/Nevada/New Mexico is carried in rodent urine - usually kangaroo rats. And it is DEADLY. It usually kills 2 to 3 people on the reservation a year - sometimes less, sometimes more.

In addition, the US still gets a few cases of bubonic plague in those areas as well as West Texas every year.

I love traveling to Big Bend when they have the plague warnings up - "If you show the following symptoms... please tell your doctor you may have been exposed to bubonic plague." Can you imagine calling in sick? "I'm sorry, I can't come to work today. I have the Black Death."


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## frost_love_bite (May 13, 2008)

Ophelia said:


> This one might be gruesome, but I always heard from my dad that in Asian countries during the war(s) they tortured prisoners by placing a rat on their stomach and covering it with a metal bucket (or something) and then heating that somehow. When the rats get too hot they free themselves by chewing through the abdomen of the prisoner. I have never bothered to do the research to find out if it's true, but that's a pretty good myth or strange fact that might be true. Depending on which it is.


Four things to think about is that they would of had to keep it down some how.. like rats are exscape masters! they would try to exscape. Pretty easy on a stomace because of it being squishy and all.

and the rat propably wouldn't chew but stratch to try and exscape which isn't that bad so why bother? 

and wouldn't the rat suffiocate??

and the rat would have more fun chewing the bucket...

other wise it might work...=/


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## frost_love_bite (May 13, 2008)

One myth I would like to know the answer to is that rats eat mice.
is this true for rats/pet rats cause we had a feral mouse in our house once and my rat got loose and if never seen the feral mouse again 

if this is true I hope she just scared him away..... =/


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## frost_love_bite (May 13, 2008)

mel2mdl said:


> frost_love_bite said:
> 
> 
> > KayRatz said:
> ...


really? cool! Killer Rat Pee!!!!!! :twisted:


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## FunkyRes (May 24, 2008)

Yes - rats will kill and eat mice.
I don't know that they specifically hunt for them, it may just be a meal of opportunity.


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## ledzepgirl16 (Oct 29, 2007)

When I was younger, my sister left my rat Eddie's cage open, AND the mouse cage open. Eddie murdered my poor mouse as soon as he saw the opportunity, in like less than 45 seconds. I don't even keep rats and mice in the same room now.

Also, when I recently got mice again, I had to wash the rat smell off my hands or they wouldn't let me hold them. 

But then, there are people who have posted on here saying their rats and mice actually get along, so who knows?


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## Randi (May 25, 2008)

My ex-bf had rats when we were still together, and he allowed them to get to his hamsters, and they devoured all four. I tried to explain that he cannot be mad at the rats... he should have been more careful, really. Accidents like that are sooo preventable. It's very unfortunate.


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## pyrostorms (Feb 7, 2008)

frost_love_bite said:


> Ophelia said:
> 
> 
> > This one might be gruesome, but I always heard from my dad that in Asian countries during the war(s) they tortured prisoners by placing a rat on their stomach and covering it with a metal bucket (or something) and then heating that somehow. When the rats get too hot they free themselves by chewing through the abdomen of the prisoner. I have never bothered to do the research to find out if it's true, but that's a pretty good myth or strange fact that might be true. Depending on which it is.
> ...


The bucket would be held down by a very large rock and the prizoner would also be straped down to a table so they were unable to move much and im sure someone was there to make sure they were unable to knock off the bucket.

if a rat is scared and way to warm they would probably chew and dig down, they also would not be scicalized scents it was way back when, and could be really mean, not to mention would probably be staved.

air could still get in small holes, either from premade holes or just little holes made. like being under those small plastic kidy pools when we were kids.

way back when people did not socialize with rats as much and would also starve them to make them more aggressive like they do to fight dogs in order to get them to fight. 

Another tourcher device which was kinda the same but they would put a wooden box around the head with a hole just big enough for the neck and the rats would be put in wooden box mostly starved and the rats would eat at the face. starting at the eyes and mouth. 

i would be scared to be put into one of those, and if the rats were starved.


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## Chivahn (Mar 30, 2007)

mel2mdl said:


> frost_love_bite said:
> 
> 
> > KayRatz said:
> ...


The little old lady that lived across the street from my childhood home was the first person in Washington State history to die of the Hantavirus.


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## Buggzter (Feb 13, 2008)

mel2mdl said:


> Ummm... actually hantavirus in Arizona/Nevada/New Mexico is carried in rodent urine - usually kangaroo rats. And it is DEADLY. It usually kills 2 to 3 people on the reservation a year - sometimes less, sometimes more.
> 
> In addition, the US still gets a few cases of bubonic plague in those areas as well as West Texas every year.
> 
> I love traveling to Big Bend when they have the plague warnings up - "If you show the following symptoms... please tell your doctor you may have been exposed to bubonic plague." Can you imagine calling in sick? "I'm sorry, I can't come to work today. I have the Black Death."


Yeah, this is another reason my dad hates rodents - he's big on the horrible diseases carried by animals that humans can catch. He's really smart, but he has his quirks... :wink:

And I LOVE that way to call in sick... Too bad I could never use it (even if I would like to): my job is a homemaker/toddler-raiser... *cough**cough* I really have a dislike for the way two-year-olds don't know how to deal with their emotions and can't EXPLAIN WHAT THEY ARE FEELING. THus, the desire to call in sick with the bubonic plague. If I told Becca that, I KNOW I would get the funniest weirded-out look ever from her! Smart cookie, she _knows _what "plague" means!

heh, and my favorite weird fact is: No matter the size of the object, if it can be budged by a rat it can eventually be brought into a stash spot within the cage by the rat - no matter what problems come with it! (Blaze carried an almost-whole piece of pizza from the table, accross the couch, up the side of the cage, accross the front, down the inside, and to the "stash"!!! It was about the same weight as him - BIG piece, and he was the only rat working on it!!!)


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## Ophelia (May 25, 2008)

CeilingofStars said:


> I kind of don't believe the bucket thing...wouldn't the rat knaw through the bucket before human skin? Hmm...I s'pose not if it was a wild rat, maybe.


I think the bucket is metal. It would take a rat a lot longer to gnaw a metal bucket than soft flesh. But I have no clue if its true or not.


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## Ophelia (May 25, 2008)

frost_love_bite said:


> Four things to think about is that they would of had to keep it down some how.. like rats are exscape masters! they would try to exscape. Pretty easy on a stomace because of it being squishy and all.
> 
> and the rat propably wouldn't chew but stratch to try and exscape which isn't that bad so why bother?
> 
> ...


Well, about this form of torture...
1)The rat is supposed to try to escape. That's why the bucket is heated. The rat becomes panicked and begins frantically trying to escape.
2) This is torture in a POW camp. There are men there holding the bucket down (probably quite forcefully) while the victim is tied up. The victim isn't just left alone with a rat and a bucket on his belly.
3) Fear is the ultimate goal of torture, even more than the pain. If you were in a POW camp and some people came in, stripped you, tied you to a table to put a strange rat on your belly, covered it with a bucket and then started heating the bucket, you would be scared absolutely out of your mind. Even if it didn't actually "work", per se.
4) The rat would not "have more fun chewing the bucket". The bucket is being heated up to fatal temperatures. People are probably banging on it to scare the rat (and the victim is probably screaming in terror to add to the rat's stress). And it's a wild rat. I'm sure guards in POW camps weren't taming rats. They would just catch one. This rat would have one thing on it's mind: ESCAPE! And a fast one. Not playing.


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## Ratty1100 (Nov 17, 2007)

Yup, wild rats eat mice.
Pet rats may do it, especially when they are hungry. 
One rat owner i know had long ago a rat who didn't eat, but just killed mice, and she saw those dead mice many times.
By the way, mice are afraid of rats more than cats. When we had cats there were feral mice, /not to mention, our neighbour has dozen/ with rats- they are gone.
And ONE wild rat killed one of my neighbors cats once. :/


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## KayRatz (Apr 5, 2007)

Rats are badass x3


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## hipoluvsmud (May 22, 2008)

I heard that if you corner a wild rat it will go for ya throat! LOL, it is probably only trying to jump away from the person who is cornering it.....not that I would try anything like that, you would not see me for dust if I encountered a wild rat. 
Another one I heard, which was supposed have been used by chinese against japanese POWs, is that a few rats have been starved for a few days, and they are put in a copper bowl. The POW's stomach is smeared with honey and grease and stuff, and the rats are put on top of the stomach in the bowl. They start to eat and lick the honey, then they break the skin and taste the blood......and......need I go on?


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## Ratty1100 (Nov 17, 2007)

Throat? Nope. But if you don't let it go (away /past you), it may bite you.


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## Fefe4life (Nov 30, 2021)

Ophelia said:


> This one might be gruesome, but I always heard from my dad that in Asian countries during the war(s) they tortured prisoners by placing a rat on their stomach and covering it with a metal bucket (or something) and then heating that somehow. When the rats get too hot they free themselves by chewing through the abdomen of the prisoner. I have never bothered to do the research to find out if it's true, but that's a pretty good myth or strange fact that might be true. Depending on which it is.


That was a scene in this horror movie I saw too 😬 I think sinister 2 mayby?


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## Verucasdad (Aug 31, 2015)

Ophelia said:


> This one might be gruesome, but I always heard from my dad that in Asian countries during the war(s) they tortured prisoners by placing a rat on their stomach and covering it with a metal bucket (or something) and then heating that somehow. When the rats get too hot they free themselves by chewing through the abdomen of the prisoner. I have never bothered to do the research to find out if it's true, but that's a pretty good myth or strange fact that might be true. Depending on which it is.


That was actually a medieval torture tactic as well.


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## Verucasdad (Aug 31, 2015)

My favorite myth is that rats caused the plague. Research has shown that it was the fleas on the rats, humans, dogs, cats, horses, etc. that caused the sickness. Rats have always had to carry this burden and it is really annoying.
Rats Didn’t Spread the Black Death—It Was Humans - HISTORY


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