BEIJING,
Feb. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- About a dozen rats were filmed Friday racing around the
floor of a locked KFC/Taco Bell restaurant in New York City, playing with each other and
sniffing for food as they dashed around tables and children's high chairs.
The restaurant was not open at the time, and the company
later said construction in the basement on Thursday appeared to have stirred up
the rats.
Onlookers could not keep their eyes away from the
jaw-dropping sight of urban vermin invading a restaurant. Video of the rats was
seen around the world, disseminated on TV stations and the Internet.
The city Department of Health had inspectors at the
site on Friday for hours, and by midday had posted a sign that read "CLOSED."
Rats have long been a problem in New York City, with such
a dense population and such a large and readily available food supply for the
rodents.
They are frequently seen scampering through subway
tunnels, rooting through trash, dashing across parks and burrowing into the
walls of apartment buildings.
It's impossible to estimate how many rats there are in New
York, experts say, but one popular belief is that there's one for each of the
more than 8 million people in the city. Whatever the number, the rats have
continued to thrive despite the city spending millions to eradicate them.
The typical New York rat weighs about one pound and
has a very flexible body, making it easy to squeeze though openings as small as
a half inch. Each year, a female rat can easily bear dozens of offspring that
survive, said Frank Gasperini, a pest-control expert.
Jessica Leighton, the city's deputy commissioner of
environmental health, said sloppy sanitation can attract rodents. "The basic
message is, you need to remove food sources," she said. "In restaurants, rodents
are a symptom of poor sanitation."
Eisenberg, the exterminator, said wiping out vermin
is impossible. His company kills about 50,000 rats and 250,000 a mice a year in
the city, but it's a war that can't be won, only managed.
(Agencies)
