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Title: Giant rat killed by pitchfork in Marcy Houses is believed to be Gambian pouched rat
Source:
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URL Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local ... houses_is_believed_to_be_.html
Published: Aug 26, 2011
Author: Barry Paddock, Mark Morales and Mike Jac
Post Date: 2011-08-26 13:57:38 by Jethro Tull
Keywords: None
Views: 717
Comments: 27
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. And Rivera, 48, says it's not the only one. He insists that while he was filling a rat hole last week, three came running out - but he was only able to nail one. "I hit it one time and it was still moving," Rivera said. "I hit it another time and that's when it died. I'm not scared of rats but I was scared of being bitten." Naomi Colon, head of the Marcy Houses Tenant Association, said there have been sightings of the outsize rat for at least six years. "The residents have told me that they've seen it running around with other rats. She lived with them. She ran into the same hole they ran in." Animal experts who viewed the picture identified the animal as a Gambian pouched rat, which is a fairly common pet rat. They're nocturnal, can grow to three feet and four pounds or more, and live seven or eight years. Imports have been banned since 2003, when they were blamed for a monkeypox outbreak that sickened 100 people in the United States. Dr. Paul Calle, director of zoological health at the Wildlife Conservation Society, said the Marcy Houses specimen was probably an escaped or discarded pet who decided to join the regular rat race. "They are a very social animal and live in big groups in the wild. Our Norway rats are the closest big rodents it could accompany," he said. They can even be trained to sniff out landmines or even tuberculosis. "They're pretty remarkable animals," Calle said. Tenants fear that the Gambian rat has been breeding with the Norway rats and spawning a super-breed of rodents - but zoo officials say not to worry. The imported rat probably wouldn't mate with local rats, and it couldn't reproduce if it did, because each is from a different genus, Calle said. Residents say that while the monster-sized rat may be the stuff of horror movies, the run-of-the-mill rats are an even bigger nightmare at the project where Jay-Z grew up. "Even the cats are afraid of the rats. They get together and gang up on the cats, said resident Stephanie Davis, 44. Pam Davis, 43, added, "They're here day and night. We don't dodge bullets. We dodge rats.They're so big, they should charge them rent." The New York City Housing Authority had no immediate comment.
Poster Comment: Now THAT's a rat!
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 26.
#1. To: Jethro Tull (#0)
Poor thing was probably some little girl's beloved pet, till it snuck out and got away. Mine has a guinea pig, cutest little thing. It squeaks in an attempt to talk, and is super cuddly. A rat is just an animal that has been given a bad reputation since it has historically spread disease due to its living habitat out in the wild.
that has been given a bad reputation since it has historically spread disease and killed millions of people exterminate 'em
So have human beings... Thing is, the humans did it deliberately in many cases (if you include wars, although sometimes the disease WAS deliberate (ie. forced smallpox vaccinations, or deliberately spreading smallpox to the Native Americans by giving them infected blankets), whereas the rat didn't.
It's be kind to fuzzy little rats day. O.K. I wish folks would stop bringing in all of these reptiles and mammals that don't have any business here. Like we don't have enough problems. Cheers, FL.
I would be more concerned about Pythons in Flahrda.
Yeah they have a population of African Rock Pythons breeding down there.
Yeah they have a population of African Rock Pythons breeding down there. That's an overblown issue. There are more common wild things in Flawda to be concerned about. Pigmy Rattlesnakes are the most common venomous snake in Florida, and is responsible for more snakebites than any other snake. They are hard to see and will bite without much provocation. I'm not concerned about pythons.
You will be if you're ever wrapped in 20 feet of Rock Python. Hopefully no one lets loose any Reticulated Pythons a.k.a. Anacondas. Thirty-five to forty feet of snake is more than I want to imagine (although there are unofficial reports of snakes as large as 70 feet in upper Amazon Basin).
Already in FL www.timesonline.co.uk/tol...ericas/article6991754.ece After hearing such stories and exploring a few of the Amazon's tributaries, ex President Teddy Roosevelt offered a $10,000 reward to anyone who produced proof of an anaconda 10m or longer. The reward has never been claimed. BTW I've seen skins of anacondas over 10m, but they were stretched.
Thing is the upper Amazon, where the reports have come from, is very remote and has, even today, little contact with the outside world. Somehow I suspect the tribes up there have never even heard T. Roosevelt. That said, the reports are unconfirmed. Some have come from explorers and some from natives. Trying to catch, let alone skin or preserve, a snake that big is not a simple activity. One photo taken from the air by a Belgian pilot in the Congo in 1959 shows what appears to be a monster snake. PHOTO HERE Based on the known scale of the vegetation and such around it some estimates put its length at about 50-55 feet. The article I linked to is more conservative saying 40 to 50. Still, if confirmed, that would be the largest known and proven snake species. However, the unconfirmed reports suggest that the giant anaconda of the upper Amazon can reach as much 130 feet. However the data is shaky and is based on native legends and a very few explorer reports.
I spent a respectable amount of time in the upper Amazon in Ecuador, doing expeditions/river trips in the jungle. Most of my trips occurred in the early 90's, before widespread oil production began, so the rivers were pristine and wildlife was abundant. Some rivers had reputations for big snakes others didn't. I remember passing one of the last huts by the road on the Tiputini river and being warned "Caution THE Anaconda", not the Anacondas. I was paddling a kayak loaded down in the water with supplies and a Indian helper, we were a perfect target for a huge snake, yet we saw nothing. I could go on and on about other trips I've made or the trips of people I personally knew/know, they all report the same, which is no giant snakes. The reward is well known and people, especially the military are always looking to cash in on it. I heard TR put the reward money in the bank where it has happily compounded for the last 90 years and is now worth over 100k. As for the tribes, except for a very small number of very small tribes that don't want contact, the rest have all been brought into the bosom of Heysus, where they abandoned their traditional ways and have been turned into groveling beggars. The Missionaries are all too happy to entice Indians into "Mission Villages" where the free rice and bibles flow like manna from heaven. That said, I pride myself on having made friends with one Indian who wouldn't drink the kool aid. People tell me he was the one who threw the first spear into (and killed) the Missionaries who landed there in the 1970's. We hit it off immediately ...lol Now, I have heard reliable stories of snakes around 30'. One was provided by a gringo diver who claims a 30' Anaconda swam by him underwater in the Amazon off Iquitos And another was an old Jaguar hunter in Bolivia who told me of a lagoon where the giant snakes live. The lagoon is only about 75 miles downriver from a small town and I've always wanted to go there to see for myself, but nobody wants to go with me.....lol Any takers?
#27. To: Flintlock (#26)
I'd go, but then I've been accused of having too much curiosity. Hee, hee. There is a lot in the Amazon basin to see. Col. Fawcett tempted fate one too many times in trying to find out what was there. I still think is possible that the big snakes are there. Too many reports from too many different sources. I think it is likely that they are very rare. A predator of that size would need a very large hunting territory and so population density would be low. It may even be that the small population, at some point, dropped below the level needed for successful reproduction and that they have died off. However, while I can't point to the pictures on line I have seen drawings from early explorers that would seem to indicate snakes in at least the 60 to 70 foot range. We do know for sure that there are some giant species in the Amazon region - the Arrow Fish is a giant scaled freshwater fish that has been unofficially recorded up to around 17 feet and over half a ton. There are also reports of behemoth catfish as well. And it is likely there are other species. One report I read suggested that a new species is cataloged every 3 days. So, there is indirect evidence which suggests the possibility of other giant species. We do know that at the end of the last ice age that there were many different species of giant, by our current standards, animals as fossil remains have been found. And we do know that, at least in pre-history, giant snakes did exist because we have found fossil remains for them as well. So, I am going to remain open minded on it and keep it filed in the "Gray" file of interesting but unproved.
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#2. To: FormerLurker (#1)
#4. To: randge (#2)
that has been given a bad reputation since it has historically spread disease and killed millions of people
#6. To: FormerLurker (#4)
#7. To: randge, FormerLurker, abraxas (#6)
I wish folks would stop bringing in all of these reptiles and mammals that don't have any business here.
#14. To: Original_Intent, randge, abraxas (#7)
I would be more concerned about Pythons in Flahrda.
#15. To: farmfriend, Original_Intent, randge, abraxas (#14)
I would be more concerned about Pythons in Flahrda.
Then there are alligators in most any body of water, rabid raccoons, feral hogs, and other native snakes.
#17. To: Armadillo, farmfriend, randge, abraxas (#15)
I'm not concerned about pythons.
#18. To: Original_Intent (#17)
Reticulated Pythons a.k.a. Anacondas.
unofficial reports of snakes as large as 70 feet in upper Amazon Basin).
#22. To: Flintlock (#18)
#26. To: Original_Intent (#22)
(Edited)
Thing is the upper Amazon, where the reports have come from, is very remote and has, even today, little contact with the outside world
I suspect the tribes up there have never even heard T. Roosevelt.
Replies to Comment # 26. Any takers?
End Trace Mode for Comment # 26.