[ Image source: http://www.funny-animalpictures.com/ ]
If you haven’t already read, rat activity has been detected at Waterway Point at a “food shop” and in the false ceilings within the mall. A diner had been waiting for her food at The Coffee House at Waterway Point when a rat fell from the ceiling. Are you shocked that there are rats in Punggol? I’m not. In fact I watched a rat dash across a field on my way home today.
Me: “There’s a rat!”
E: “Are you sure? Look for the tail.”
Me: “Yes, it’s a rat. There’s that long tail. Where’s it going though?”
*rat scampers into drain by the side of a road*
There have been rats in Punggol for the longest time ever. It’s not uncommon to see them hanging out in my neighborhood, sometimes near the lift lobbies too.
A friend of mine who owns a stall in a coffeeshop somewhere in Singapore said that many coffeeshops have rats. And that is why stall owners keep their canned food and canned drinks upside down. Why? So that rats can walk across them at night. But you can still flip the drink right side up, and drink from them or open the lid of the can. Items like eggs also have to be wrapped and stored in the fridge because rats will eat them if they are left out in the open!
5 Things You Didn’t Know About Rats (Especially Those In Singapore)
- Last year, NEA received over 6,700 complaints about rats (Source: ST)
- The NEA also found over 10,000 rat burrows across the island (Source: AsiaOne)
- Rats can potentially cause fires if they chew through electrical cables (Source: Rentokill)
- The gestation period for rats is about 3 weeks and they give birth to many young rats per litter. So rats can have up to 60 “babies” a year! In short, it’s VERY difficult to rid Singapore of rats.
- Rats are a “delicious delicacy” in some countries! In India, Cameroon, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand, etc, people eat rats even when there are other meats available because they like the taste of rats (Source: BBC)
Well, if we run out of food one day due to war or famine, we can always look for our friendly neighborhood rats.😉
