8

8.
Been seeing a surge in the SF rat population lately. Actual rats. This can’t be good.

That distinct silhouette and gait, darting across streets and sidewalks in the evenings. I always yield (well, involuntarily freeze) and note that other humans do the same.

Perhaps rats are misunderstood.

From Wikipedia: “A 2011 controlled study found that rats … demonstrate apparent altruistic behaviour to other rats in experiments, including freeing them from cages: when presented with readily available chocolate chips, test subjects would first free the caged rat, and then share the food.”

That sounds about right.

“Oh, when the rain fall, fall, fall now,
It don’t fall on one man’s housetop. Remember that:
When the rain fall,
It don’t fall on one man’s housetop.”
– So Much Things To Say; Bob Marley/Rita Anderson Marley

Update:
A Facebook comment alerted me to a NYT article about giant rats that save lives.
HeroRats!
“Rats are also more reliable,” said Alfredo Adamo, a field supervisor here. “With humans, concentration wanes after a while, but rats just sniff away.”
It is problematic that the rats are receiving “better health care than most Angolans.”