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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIran battles plague of 'genetically mutated' giant rats
2013-03-01 02:38:50 GMT2013-03-01 10:38:50(Beijing Time) SINA.com
(Photo:agencies)(Photo:agencies)
Tehran, the capital of Iran, is battling an invasion of "genetically mutated" giant rats. Iran has sent in sniper teams to clear Tehran's streets from the massive rodents weighting up to five kilos plaguing 26 district of the Iranian capital, the city's environmental agency said.
"They seem to have had a genetic mutation, probably as a result of radiations and the chemical used on them," Ismail Kahram, Teheran city council environment adviser and university professor Ismail Kahram told Qudsonline.ir.
"They are now bigger and look different. These are changes that normally take millions of years of evolution. They have jumped from 60 grams to five kilos, and cats are now smaller than them."
The "mutated rats" have been running rampant in the capital, as cats are scared off by their giant size and traditional poison appear to have no effect on them. To stop them storming of restaurants' backyards and scavenging public waste containers, the council has deployed ten snipers teams armed with infra-red sighted rifles.
http://english.sina.com/world/p/2013/0228/566711.html
- LIBOR, the Big Cheat exposed. World's oldest bank (1472), downgraded to junk status. Abdication of Queen 'Old money' Beatrix of the Netherlands. Investigation of Queen Elizabeth's palace spending by Parliament. Spanish Prince under indictment. Resignation of the Pope, Vatican hit by lightning the same night. Meteorite slams into Russia. 21 volcanoes erupting worldwide in the past two weeks. Plagues of locusts in Egypt, on their way to Israel. And now, mutant rats in Iran.
That, I did not see coming.
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)And the notion of a ten pound rat is just... ludicrous. As is the idea of a sixty-gram rat (which would be tiny)
Soooo... fake, I say.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)Nutria weigh an average of 12.0 pounds (5.4 kg).
http://nutria.com/site.php
Like so many other swell money-making ideas, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
We're #1! We're #1! We're #1!
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)It's a hystricomorph, rats are myomorphs. it's like calling a ferret a type of dachshund
Also I hear they're tasty.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)With all due respect, sure, meat is meat, but I wouldn't eat one, oh, no. I mean, really, people get freaked out when they see those things with their big teeth. They don't care what the official bio-geek definition is.
'Look Ethel, it's a giant RAT! Get my gun!'
I blame Romney for those Iranian critturs. And think it's all a cover-up for some nefarious something. That's the reason why he wanted to go all McInsane and bomb, bomb, bomb Iran.
Not all genetic experiments go well...
And you can always count on me to 'go there.'
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)Next time you hear that expression? Now you know what it references
It's male, too, just in case you needed a little more nightmare fuel.
TheMastersNemesis
(10,602 posts)pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)Hekate
(90,714 posts)Some species of rats can get mighty big.
What they need to do is bring in that guy with the flute -- just don't forget to pay him though!
Are_grits_groceries
(17,111 posts)Some look like they could pull sleds.
GaYellowDawg
(4,447 posts)They're called fundamentalist clerics.
OldDem2012
(3,526 posts)GaYellowDawg
(4,447 posts)Nothing worse than a fundamentalist with power.
JI7
(89,251 posts)why can't they go extinct ?
area51
(11,910 posts)HereSince1628
(36,063 posts)They've been of interest to hobbiests in several countries
And there was a teevee story about them being trained to locate land mines.
Tyrs WolfDaemon
(2,289 posts)(Rodents Of Unusual Size) and that soon the Iranians will be jumping around to avoid the fire spouts just like in the Princess Bride movie.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,321 posts)The Mallomys giant rat of New Guinea turns out to be a cuddly and friendly thing: http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8210000/8210394.stm
eShirl
(18,494 posts)Codeine
(25,586 posts)I've had rats as pets; that's a biggish rat, but well within normal limits. Idiotic excuse for a story.
RebelOne
(30,947 posts)I had a problem with rats last winter because a field being cleared behind me drove them all into my house. I had to hire an exterminator, and he killed 18 rats. None of them were anywhere near that big.
Codeine
(25,586 posts)A well-fed rat can get pretty sizable. A rat scrounging in a field or competing for kitchen scraps with a few dozen others is likely to be a bit more petite.
Javaman
(62,530 posts)WilliamPitt
(58,179 posts)Berlum
(7,044 posts)Freaking RepubliWankers, internationalSTyle, and their gawdforsaken Genetically Mutant crapola degeneracy...Enuf to make one bLOW MutantChunks.