Shake It Fast

Ever notice how dogs shake themselves dry after a bath?  Turns out there's a science to the dance and nearly all dogs (and bears) shake at a similar speed: about 4-5 times per second. And, the smaller the animal, the faster they need to shake; I've never had the pleasure of watching a rat dry itself at 18 Hz until now.

 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvoKN1UfLn0

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Love, the Naked Mole Rats from the National Zoo.

Time to chomp on that pumpkin to saw those giant teeth down, naked mole rats!

NYC Rat Zoo!

I recently stumbled upon this blurb in Gothamist, which mentioned that NYC's Unofficial Rat Zoo is located in Collect Pond Park, a small dilapidated park located on Leonard Street between Lafayette and Centre.  I did a double-take.  I live on Leonard Street, just two avenues west!  And then I went to check it out.  Sure enough, I spotted many a rattus norvegicus, probably even more than captured on this video:



It's interesting how downtown Manhattan is so compressed that a fancy neighborhood like Tribeca can be so close to the unofficial rat zoo of Manhattan.  I have never seen a rat anywhere in Tribeca, let alone on my block.  It's almost like there's an invisible barrier that lets the rats know that they aren't welcome.  Yet two avenues away, in the festering filth of Chinatown, the rats run rampant and free.  I had no idea that Collect Pond Park existed before, but now that I know, it'll be much easier to do rat blog research!