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You’ve Been Lied to About Rats and the Black Death 

18 Apr 2025

Rats have long been associated with and blamed for the spread of plague, a disease that has killed over 200 million people throughout the past two millennia. The Black Death, a bubonic plague...

The Loopy Science of Stressed Rats and Froot Loops

12 Jul 2023

If you are a male rat and have to spend two hours every day in a polypropylene tube in which you cannot move, and want to preserve the integrity of your penis, you better stay away from eating...

Rats Don't Really Squeak

30 May 2017

Despite what movies would have you think, rats barely ever make any sounds, at least those that humans are able to hear. Rat’s vocalizations start at around 2 kHz and extend as far up as 100 kHz....

Is it true that hantavirus infection can be acquired from rodent excrement?

20 Mar 2017

In 1993, a young Navajo woman arrived at an emergency room in New Mexico suffering from flu-like symptoms and shortness of breath. Despite such “minor” symptoms, she soon passed away. Ironically,...

Can you remove 'dead mouse smell' without putting holes in your walls?

20 Mar 2017

Nobody likes the idea of live rodents scampering around the house, but dead rodents can be an even bigger problem. If they meet their demise inside a wall, as can easily happen, the “smell of death...

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