Channel 4 - Hemming Plaza - Jerry Moran - Rats?

[duvaldude08]

Even the way they cover the bears and cubs are completely different. They dont get into anything in depth.

My guess is there is a bit of drama today about the Bears tho...

Man.. 7 seven sacks and 4 interception. Im sure he couldnt sleep last night LOL

[Debbie Thompson]

Talk about a slow news day. Imagine that. Common rodents living in a park. Shocking.

[coredumped]

Here's the story/video:
http://www.news4jax.com/news/Dozens-of-rats-call-Hemming-Plaza-home/-/475880/16600106/-/i8xu2rz/-/index.html

http://www.kaltura.com/index.php/kwidget/wid/_557781/uiconf_id/5926632/entry_id/1_qdwzrlkj

[isphil]

Rats in Hemming Plaza nowhere near as big and nasty as the ones that inhabit the Council Chamber.

[John P]

Here's the story/video:
http://www.news4jax.com/news/Dozens-of-rats-call-Hemming-Plaza-home/-/475880/16600106/-/i8xu2rz/-/index.html

http://www.kaltura.com/index.php/kwidget/wid/_557781/uiconf_id/5926632/entry_id/1_qdwzrlkj

That is actually a good story and has a point. The vagrants do attract rats with all the trash they leave behind and they are as much of a problem as the rats. No trash left all over the place by vagrant and no rat nests outside city hall. I hope Browns budget allows for regular pest control in parks.

[BackinJax05]

The vagrants and the rats rule downtown - or something like that.

Pretty much says it all.

[ronchamblin]

I've lived over half of Florida through the years, both in the woods and in the cities and towns.  It was odd that rats, coons, squirrels, humans, roaches, and birds were all around.  Rats are similar to squirrels and birds, but also have an image akin to roaches in that nobody wants them around because they live in the ground, and are always lurking and hiding in the night.  It is unfortunate that the media, who I suppose wishes to enhance the image of downtown, has unwittingly worked to trash it by illuminating this natural condition wherein rodents inhabit a downtown area.  The rats have always been in the downtown parks, and will continue to be, unless poison is aggressively set to destroy them. 

But the poison will kill other animals.  Also, if some of the rats become immune to the poison, the local rat population might increase its rate of evolution according to the principles designed by nature and explained by Mr. Darwin, and gain in size and intelligence.  Becoming stronger and more intelligent over time, and becoming more united under oppression, we might see the emergence of a Rat Army.  We might see rats proudly standing on their hind legs, marching in protest twenty abreast down Laura Street, singing Rat solidarity songs.  I can hear the march now, with the slow cadence.... Hooooumpha... Hooooumpha......  Hooooumpha.  Just as with any population under siege, the Rat population will emerge stronger, and more united, willing to sacrifice their lives to achieve freedom from the yoke of the cruel creatures called humans. 

There will always be food droppings in a downtown area as long as there are workers and individuals who eat lunch outside.  If it becomes possible to remove the so-called vagrants from the park, you will have food dropped by the work crowd.  Perhaps to decrease the food left for the rats, and therefore the rat population, the DVI ambassadors, who do a great job of cleaning up the downtown already, could be assigned to more carefully clean up the food droppings in the park once early each evening.  Also, the city could place signs, asking park users to insure that all food scraps are placed in the garbage bags. 

And if the local rat population does in fact evolve to more intelligence, they might respond positively to human requests that they simply make a quick sweep of the park to clean it of any dropped food missed by the downtown ambassador sweep.  To some degree the rats are like vultures in that they clean the environment of items which we humans no longer want to be bothered with.         

 

[WmNussbaum]

As usual, Ron is prescient. I want all of you to know that I have been retained by several rats to bring a class action lawsuit against those responsible for putting the local sub-specie in false light - a form of defamation. I expect to vigorously pursue all available legal remedies on behalf of my clients and other members of the class.

Well, seriously, folks, rats do enjoy a rather low image possibly because of their reputation as a carrier of another organism which, in turn, was responsible for a plague that, at various times over the years, has decimated large parts of the world's population - notably Europe.

[ben says]

Interesting our dislike for rats....are not squirrels rats with fuzzy tails?

[urbanlibertarian]

Interesting our dislike for rats....are not squirrels rats with fuzzy tails?

Yes, and pigeons are rats with feathers.

[JaxJag]

Hahahaha no lie at night its like real life wack a mole.

[dougskiles]

It is unfortunate that the media, who I suppose wishes to enhance the image of downtown, has unwittingly worked to trash it by illuminating this natural condition wherein rodents inhabit a downtown area. 

^This is a much greater problem than the rats.

It wouldn't surprise me if the increased rat activity has more to do with all of the rain we've been having lately... so I searched and found that Boston had a similar problem in 2010:

Rats! Record Boston Rainfall has Led to Rodent Problem

Apr 27, 2010; 1:00 PM ET

The deluge of rain in March has some residents of Boston smelling a rat, or possibly an entire pack.

The record-breaking rainy conditions have the rodents seeking higher ground, leaving the city's sewers and invading residential basements.

According to the Boston Herald, the city has received about 160 rat complaints from Feb. 22 to Apr. 22, including the record-breaking month of March.

"We didn't just have floods, we had a disaster," John Meaney, director of environmental services for Boston's Inspectional Services Department told the Boston Herald. "Any rats living in the sewers get displaced."

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/rats-record-boston-rainfall-ha/30843

[BackinJax05]

Interesting our dislike for rats....are not squirrels rats with fuzzy tails?

Yes, and pigeons are rats with feathers.

And the bums are rats with beards, bad breath, and torn clothing.
(except the rats have better manners than the bums)