Rats

Saw a huge, fat one crossing the street(!) in the middle of the day. Wouldn't like to see one near/in my house.

Rats have managed to evolve right along side human civilization, thriving mainly because of us. They are smarter than most pets, quick to learn and easy to train. Rats even know when they don't know something* (which makes them smarter than most people IMO). In fact, rats share many similarities with us. Their social structure, physiology and apparent ability to reason are all traits that we share. Hell, we even eat the same foods and share the same environments. We share similar organs, similar body plans, We both control our body chemistry using similar hormones, we both have nervous systems that work in the same way, and we both react similarly to infection and injury. One of the reasons that scientists perform psychological and medicinal tests on rats is because, as a species we are both so similar. These similarities also bring the ethics of animal testing to greater light. They do carry many zoonotic diseases and the fleas on them did cause some devastating plagues a few hundr... Read more

Not a very large animal, but this species has done lots of damage historically. Rats are enormously prolific. Each female rate can have up to six litters a year with as many as a dozen little rats. At the age of three months, a rat is ready to breed and make more rats.

I think rats are dangerous they don't kill people but they can spread diaeases.why else they would be in sewer and yucky place.if they step outside in the night they have millions of predators Fox Hawk Falcon Eagle Monkey Bear Polar bear Raccoon Grizzly bear Goat Bighorn Sheep Coyote Bobcat Lnxy Snake Python Anaconda Crocodile Alligator Komondo dragon Montior lizard Weasel Tiger Lion Dog Baboon Cougar Owls Snapping turtles Bats and the Cat so they are dangerous.

Almost harmless.

Not really a contender in the one on one sense, but carrying the right disease a rat can be all kinds of trouble...

Furry and cuddley.

Rats can be pretty disgusting but I don't think I fear them. I would probably feel different if a horde of them were crawling all over me.

They terrify me. I'm not sure exactly why, as I've never had a truly personal experience with them that I can remember, but they terrify me nonetheless (although I was a fan of the original movie "Willard" for some reason). Well, actually, I've had a few experiences. When I was a tot, we lived on the outskirts of the Jersey Meadowlands, and our cat would bring a dead rat back in the morning and leave it on our back porch as a "gift". Orwell's final scene in "1984" can still induce a cold sweat. I've heard that in Hong Kong, there are fast-food restaurants that serve fried rat like we serve fried chicken here (I think I'd rather starve). Some years ago, a friend and I were drunk in Philadelphia. We were standing at the end of a narrow alleyway, and at the other end of the alleyway were 2 rats. We stared at them; they stared at us. Suddenly, they started running toward us. My friend and I both turned and ran like terrified schoolgirls. Needless to say, we were no longer drunk. In the mag... Read more

I've had them in my house before.

I place them in the same category as spiders and snakes.

The Plague! Oh wait. That was the fleas on the rats... The Plague!

Don't know about the danger, but boy...am I afraid of them or what! Hate rats!

Rats don't kill people diseases do, you never hear of rat mauling human to death, people are stupid

There are vast numbers of these vermin in urban North America. History has shown that together with the flea, they have been transporters of epidemics on numerous occasions. One of the few animals (besides man) that kills for sport, they are exceedingly dangerous.

These pests are somewhat dangerous. I do recount that they can eat you alive if they are bloodthirsty, rabid, or deathly hungry (seen from the movie, "The Bone Collector".) Babies are victim to them because of the formula or milk the give off when they sleep. They are also the ones that bring disease and fleas. They were resposible for the Bubonic Plague or the Black Death in Medeval times. In today's world, we are controlling them and some are being kept as pets. No worry now as they can easily be killed by us or by cats, eagles and many others.

I am not afraid of many things, I can handle snakes, spiders, lizards etc. But I am terrified of rats. Sneaky, dirty, disease ridden, they just remind me of garbage, unclean.

Rats are very intelligent and make excellent pets. I met a woman once who had about ninety of them and a name for each one. I deal with rats all the time because I have a snake collection. I have never been bitten by a rat, but I have been bitten by snakes. If you loathe rats, I wouldn't vociferate it if I were you. In Orwell's "1984" Winston winds up in a cage filled with rats because Big Brother finds out that rats are his biggest fear. It's all part of the brainwashing Winston has to undergo. Do you want to end up like Winston when totalitarianism comes to your hometown? Hush youself, then, child. You love rats, right?

They may not be all that dangerous, but I sure am scared of them.

I would have to agree with Kammy. I actually like rats and one day, I might just buy one from the pet store. Although I don't like the brown ones which are full of disease, I still don't fear them. In actual fact, I think they are quite cute and they have such a nice squeal. They sound like guinea pigs.

I hate 'em, but am not particularly scared of them. I used to shoot rats at a local landfill just for sport.

The really large ones scare the heck out of me.

They're out of control, esp. in big cities. The only animal that makes the hair on my neck stand up if I see one on the street. Yuck! Hate them.

True story - An area in Mexico had a huge rat problem so they imported a bunch of cats to kill the rats. The rats still outnumbered the cats and ended up killing most all the cats.

Yeah, I'll admit it, I hate and am somewhat afraid of these God awful creatures. They help spread disease, creep me out with their really odd way of keeping themselves hidden, and tend to look very intimidating. By the way, I've never heard of, let alone seen, a cute rat...

vile, hateful creatures with distasteful dispositions.

Rats dont kill for sport Irish, and they usually only live about a month after birth anyway. Stan, if you eradicated rats then it would send shockwaves up the food chain because so many animals rely on rats for food. P.S. When I see a rat I dont want to kill it on sight.

I'll agree with Jamie McBain--pet store rats are cute and sweet critters, and they're not much more than just really big mice. Rats in the wild are significantly less cute, but I'm not afraid of them, either.

Humanity has definitely evolved a genetic aversion to rats. When you see one, your natural reaction is to want to kill the bastard. They are filthy vermin who I consider to be an enemy of mankind. They're also one of the few animals capable of genuine nastiness and malevolence, and should be eradicated from the face of the earth. I have never gone hunting, because I have a hard time killing animals, but I have killed rats before and will continue to kill them on sight.

Funnily enough, the most dangerous creature in history to man has not been lions, tigers or bears. The most dangerous creature to man (besides other men) is in fact: the flea. Because of the bubonic plague over HALF of Europe's population died a horrible death. Although it was the rats who transported the fleas around it was the fleas themselves who spread the plague. At least you can kill a rat or avoid it before it bites you (which it will only do when provoked) but fleas are undetectable and utterly deadly. The more undetectable an animal is, the harder it is to avoid.

In alliance with fleas, they have done considerable damage throughout the centuries. Nasty ill-tempered critters, and there's a lot more of them around than you think.