2. Comment by NightHawk P. (NightHawk)— January 7,2007 @ 1:06AM
Ratings:-0+0
If you live in the country your use to the field rat and mice. Never seen one come out of a toilet before, But it must be a real shock to lift the lid to see one. I know my wife would have a fit if it happened to her. Me I would most likely shoot it, and destroy the toilet at the same time. Seems they should be able to put bait or something down in the sewers to kill them.
5. Comment by Harry D. (Dog Dude (Blue heeler))— January 7,2007 @ 3:41AM
Ratings:-0+0
University representatives are quick to note the same type of white rats are sold in pet stores as food for snakes and other animals, which they said must be the genesis of this particular rat pack since UA researchers follow strict guidelines for their lab specimens.
Right and the UofA denied they let loose the mosquito infestation in Tucson also.
6. Comment by Dave P. (Dave11)— January 7,2007 @ 4:44AM
Ratings:-0+0
If someone bags a rat, a simple DNA test should tell us if it was a UA donation... Rats used in experiments will have a specific genetic signature. Don't know this for a fact, but I am doubtful that the same strains used in research would be sold in pet stores for python/boa food. Even if same strains, should be able to distinguish.
Wouldn't surprise me if they came from UA. All it takes is 1 technician who decides to let them go rather than euthanize them.
7. Comment by Bill S. (BillS)— January 7,2007 @ 5:58AM
Ratings:-0+0
"If someone bags a rat, a simple DNA test should tell us if it was a UA donation... Rats used in experiments will have a specific genetic signature."
Actually, that's not necessarily true. While there are a number of specific strains used for particular types of research, the generic lab rat is the same as what often shows up in pet shops. UMC might maintain its own breeding colony for these purposes, and if so DNA could reveal a connection. But, at least on UA campus, rats are ofetn acquired from outside sources when researchers need them. And despite protocols that require the destruction of these rats at the end of the experiments, they sometimes find there ways into people's homes as pets or as breeding stock for people who feed them to snakes. (I know this from personal experience.)
9. Comment by Chuck T. (soaz)— January 7,2007 @ 6:08AM
Ratings:-0+0
Put some snakes down there and that'll solve the rat problem. OOPS!! Now we will need a committee to study the snake problem. Perhaps a referendum for more taxes to fight the snakes and then......
13. Comment by David P. (cochiseguy)— January 7,2007 @ 7:53AM
Ratings:-0+0
" Help me out here... What's the difference between a regular toilet and a septic tank? I really am curious to know!"
None - no difference at all in the toilet and plumbing. The difference is in a septic tank system the plumbing drains into a private underground tank; in the city the plumbing drains into public drain system and eventually to the sewer treatment facility.
Shooting the rat/toilet seems a little "overkill" - the obvious solution to me would be to close the lid and flush the toilet, repeating as necesary. . . .
15. Comment by david r. (aztuff)— January 7,2007 @ 8:52AM
Ratings:-0+0
About a month ago I came home from work and went into my bathroom. Walked over and found a dead bird in the toilet. Not a small one either. There was absolutely no way it came in from a vent or other part of the house. I was baffled and disturbed about it for days. I feel a little better now.
21. Comment by D B. (DByrd)— January 7,2007 @ 9:02AM
Ratings:-0+0
#14 Wilma W. (Wilmawilcat)
All kidding aside... I agree with you! I really feel sorry for anyone who lives in the Blenman-Elm area. It will be VERY difficult for them to sell their home until this mystery is resolved - regardless if the incident has been happening for 10 months or 10 years.
Their only solution until then may be to rent out. Bummer!
23. Comment by Aaron K. (#2012)— January 7,2007 @ 9:09AM
Ratings:-0+0
Are you guys buying this? I don't believe this for a minute. A lot of people claimed to be abducted by aliens (from outer space, not the ones stealing jobs and social services), the newspaper doesn't cover those b.s. stories. Why cover this?
25. Comment by NightHawk P. (NightHawk)— January 7,2007 @ 9:26AM
Ratings:-0+0
We came back from a trip last year to find a new toilet seat in the bathrooms. I guess all the females in the family got tired of getting up in the middle of the night. Just to end up with a wet butt. Anyway they put them selfs down. Don't ask me how it works, but it does it slowly. What gets me is the childrens seat for them. One has a duck in the front. I guess for the boys not to hit you when they go.
26. Comment by loamy l. (alper)— January 7,2007 @ 9:44AM
Ratings:-0+0
Keeping the toilet seat down with an anvil on it will NOT keep the rodent from getting out of the toilet. Rodents can squeeze through some incredibly small spaces. If they can flatten their head through a gap, the rest of their body follows with the "greatest of ease".
28. Comment by Bill E. (kulaboy)— January 7,2007 @ 9:56AM
Ratings:-0+0
Leave bleach in your toilet after every flush. You may have a floating dead rat in your toilet, but hey, better than feeling its paws gripping your cheeks!
29. Comment by James G. (Number 6)— January 7,2007 @ 10:06AM
Ratings:-0+0
This was obviously perpetrated by greedy real estate agents wanting to gobble up Blenman-Elm on the cheap. The real estate industry has an inexhaustible (and growing) supply of "white" rats.
30. Comment by NightHawk P. (NightHawk)— January 7,2007 @ 10:08AM
Ratings:-0+0
It's not your cheeks a guy worries about sitting on a toilet. If you ever had an outhouse the first thing you do is stick something down the hole to rattle around. Black Widow Spiders love the place in there.
31. Comment by Greg M. (*gmoney*)— January 7,2007 @ 10:15AM
Ratings:-0+0
Now I will have nightmares of a big white rat named G W Bush crawling up my toilet
and a little Dick Chainey trying to shoot
him. And would have to call a plumber that
works for a company called The Secret Service.
34. Comment by Robert M. (#4833)— January 7,2007 @ 10:27AM
Ratings:-0+0
#14 Wilma--The story I read says this is the second incident in 10 months, and it's been happening at irregular intervals over the past 10 years. What's to correct?
#19 WW--Easily the funniest in a growing list of funny responses. If I could give you two TU's I would.
35. Comment by NightHawk P. (NightHawk)— January 7,2007 @ 10:30AM
Ratings:-0+0
If you don't like rats don't go near New Jersey. Being at Fort Dix, and sitting in the Mess Hall you could watch them walking the phone and power lines. They could walk right up a wall as well, and if you left any kind of food or candy out it was gone. Want to see if you have rats anywhere in your house. Get a UV light. Rats have no blatter control, and pee on everything and every place they go. It shows up under that light.
36. Comment by Jim W. (JW)— January 7,2007 @ 10:35AM
Ratings:-0+0
Reading these previous comments, it is obvious that we have a serious problem, and the suggestions offered have not addressed the root cause of the problem. The rats coming into your house are simply a result of a more complex set of circumstances. Some have suggested blasting these "entrants" with the old 12 gauge. Barbara LaWall may want to talk to you about that. These rats have rights. Flushing the toilet may be an effective method of deporting the rat back from whence it came, but it will just try again. Are you willing to stand guard by your toilet 24/7? The poison suggestion is simply inhumane, PETA would object and send in a bunch of lawyers. What would you do if you were in the same predicament? Imagine being in a sewer, with little hope of improving your living conditions. Wouldn't you risk your life on a difficult journey to invade someone else's home for a better future? What we need is comprehensive sewer reform. Maybe if we would allocate enough tax dollars improving the sewer, the rats won't feel the need to invade your house. As human beings, I implore you to show a little more compassion for those less fortunate than you.
37. Comment by Robert P. (#1166)— January 7,2007 @ 10:41AM
Ratings:-0+0
I contacted the city a year ago when my cat killed two large sewer rats, two months apart, shortly after we had the waste lines replaced. These were no cute fury white lab rats that fit up toilet pipes, but big gray animals. It made for a colorful conversation about rat physiology with my 8 year old son and saved me one-weeks worth of cat food.
38. Comment by George D. (gnpnaz)— January 7,2007 @ 10:58AM
Ratings:-0+0
The last post was by far the funniest, but unfortunatly probably the truest at the same time. And I can just see someone on the city council calling for the sewer reform study group.
41. Comment by francis w. (#6565)— January 7,2007 @ 11:38AM
Ratings:-0+0
A check valve or flap valve in your sewer line should keep critters out, but if these are U of A grad rats that would explain how they could figure out a way to bypass these valves.
42. Comment by Bill B. (#4485)— January 7,2007 @ 11:52AM
Ratings:-0+0
I think flushing a little C4 down the pipe, delayed fuse.. BLAM! That's one reason to have a good Cherry bomb as well., lite the fuse, flush and run like hell, clears any clog.
44. Comment by Wilma W. (Wilmawilcat)— January 7,2007 @ 12:51PM
Ratings:-0+0
"29. Comment by James G.
This was obviously perpetrated by greedy real estate agents wanting to gobble up Blenman-Elm on the cheap. The real estate industry has an inexhaustible (and growing) supply of "white" rats."
-------
Gawd, that was hilarious! :D
#34 Robert M: Yes, you are right, and I was too quick on the draw. I'm dyslexic and I did miss that. (I put the text stories into sound files and listen on my iPod later.)
Essentially, I was concerned for the neighborhood, as #21 D.B. well put it:
"It will be VERY difficult for them to sell their home until this mystery is resolved - regardless if the incident has been happening for 10 months or 10 years..."
47. Comment by Gloria A. (Alegria)— January 7,2007 @ 1:50PM
Ratings:-0+0
I just returned from a trip to Tucson. I have a compelling reason to want to be there, and it gets harder to leave every time. Most days I skip my StarNet newsletter email because I'm so busy right now, but for some reason, today I took a look at it and had the privilege of reading this story and these hilarious comments. Thank you, everyone. You've made what started out as a grim day a lot brighter!
49. Comment by mike o. (thud68)— January 7,2007 @ 2:13PM
Ratings:-0+0
...and its now time to form study group to look at this problem. Something akin to the study groups on Rio Nuevo. Oghta have an answer in about ten years.
50. Comment by NightHawk P. (NightHawk)— January 7,2007 @ 2:16PM
Ratings:-0+0
You know I should have thought of this first. Just trap them, and sell them for snake food to the pet stores. If you could get enough I bet you could use it to make your house payments.
55. Comment by Ted F. (tediseasy)— January 7,2007 @ 3:51PM
Ratings:-0+0
I live in Blennman Elm. Despite this news, I am confident that the most disgusting stuff in my toilet is what I put there, not anything coming up of its own volition.
A rat would be a nice surprise compared to the last time I forgot to flush.
I do regret the blow this article deals to homeowners in the area. My landlady is crushed.
56. Comment by Bill S. (BillS)— January 7,2007 @ 4:15PM
Ratings:-0+0
If I'm not mistaken, New York City has taken the lead on dealing with lab rats in the sewers. Their alligators seem to work quite well.
But I have to agree with some of the other suggestions to look at this with thoughts of Hollywood in mind. Lab rats - left over from unknown or unadmitted secret medical experiments carried out in local hospital or university - forced to survive in the sewer system of a major southwestern city. Has all the makings of a great Grade B movie. "The Toilet Rats of Blennman Elm". Residents of that neighborhood could capitalize on it - maps to and tours of the invaded homes - souvenir toilets (with fuzzy white rats in them) - T-shirts with the logo "I flushed mine in Blennman Elm". Lots of opportunities for creative minds.
57. Comment by Wes S. (#1)— January 7,2007 @ 4:18PM
Ratings:-0+0
Jim W #36 writes in his very funny analysis:
Barbara LaWall may want to talk to you about that.
A couple of days ago I mistakenly tuned to the John C. Scott show while driving and heard him interviewing LeWall.
I could not give them much attention at the time but I was pleased to hear her respond to some questions about recent events, one that I must paraphrase, "Does a homowner have a right to kill an intruder inside his house?"
Her answer as I recall was something short like, "Absolutely", or "You bet."
So killing rats in the toilet should not get you in trouble with the law.
61. Comment by Tim H. (thodgson)— January 8,2007 @ 5:46AM
Ratings:-0+0
In my toilet there is problem
And that problem is the Rat
They swim in my toilet
And they never go back
Chorus
Throw the rat down the well (repeat line)
So my toilet can be free (repeat line)
You must grab him by his tail (repeat line)
Then we have a big party (repeat line)
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Rats surface in toilets in one Midtown area
Residents in one Midtown neighborhood are learning to look before they sit.Well, at least this explains why Tucson was made eligible for Homeland Security funds.
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If you live in the country your use to the field rat and mice. Never seen one come out of a toilet before, But it must be a real shock to lift the lid to see one. I know my wife would have a fit if it happened to her. Me I would most likely shoot it, and destroy the toilet at the same time. Seems they should be able to put bait or something down in the sewers to kill them.
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Now that's funny.
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#2 Night Hawk
Loved the early morning laugh
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Right and the UofA denied they let loose the mosquito infestation in Tucson also.
But that's where they came from.
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If someone bags a rat, a simple DNA test should tell us if it was a UA donation... Rats used in experiments will have a specific genetic signature. Don't know this for a fact, but I am doubtful that the same strains used in research would be sold in pet stores for python/boa food. Even if same strains, should be able to distinguish.
Wouldn't surprise me if they came from UA. All it takes is 1 technician who decides to let them go rather than euthanize them.
Report this comment
"If someone bags a rat, a simple DNA test should tell us if it was a UA donation... Rats used in experiments will have a specific genetic signature."
Actually, that's not necessarily true. While there are a number of specific strains used for particular types of research, the generic lab rat is the same as what often shows up in pet shops. UMC might maintain its own breeding colony for these purposes, and if so DNA could reveal a connection. But, at least on UA campus, rats are ofetn acquired from outside sources when researchers need them. And despite protocols that require the destruction of these rats at the end of the experiments, they sometimes find there ways into people's homes as pets or as breeding stock for people who feed them to snakes. (I know this from personal experience.)
Report this comment
Never thought I'd be glad to have a septic tank!
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Put some snakes down there and that'll solve the rat problem. OOPS!! Now we will need a committee to study the snake problem. Perhaps a referendum for more taxes to fight the snakes and then......
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#1 and 2, not bad for a decent laugh at nobody's expense!
I guess if you're a rat or roach, Arizona and I would imagine Florida would be a great place to live.
But my God, that these things will actually swim upwards through pipes just to get from point A to point B is both incredible and scary.
Charles R. Whealton
Charles Whealton @ pleasedontspam.com
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I guess if it's your house where this happened then you do give a rat's *ss about this.
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Number 8... Help me out here... What's the difference between a regular toilet and a septic tank? I really am curious to know!
Number 2... LOL!!! If you're a stander... shooting would be easy... if you're a sitter... well...
Let's start arming every bathroom and restroom in Tucson with a rifle rack, ammo, and a shotgun!
Now there's a scene for a good comedy movie! Who wants to write the script? Let's call it the "Blasted Rat Pack in Tucson"!
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" Help me out here... What's the difference between a regular toilet and a septic tank? I really am curious to know!"
None - no difference at all in the toilet and plumbing. The difference is in a septic tank system the plumbing drains into a private underground tank; in the city the plumbing drains into public drain system and eventually to the sewer treatment facility.
Shooting the rat/toilet seems a little "overkill" - the obvious solution to me would be to close the lid and flush the toilet, repeating as necesary. . . .
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The promo on the "Home" section page online says this has been happening for ten YEARS, but the article says 10 MONTHS.
For the sake of the neighborhood, could somebody at Star Online please correct that?
I don't live there, but if I were trying to sell a house in Blenman-Elm, the facts are scandalous enough without adding to it with an error...
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About a month ago I came home from work and went into my bathroom. Walked over and found a dead bird in the toilet. Not a small one either. There was absolutely no way it came in from a vent or other part of the house. I was baffled and disturbed about it for days. I feel a little better now.
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#13 David P. (cochiseguy)
Thanks for the definition! Now I know!
Just to recap... the above ground (or inhouse) is the same for both!
It's what happens after passing through the little hole in the commode that distinguishes the difference between the septic and non-septic.
Sincerely... thanks for the definition.
P.S. You're not invited to my next Trivial Pursuit game! LOL!
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Ugghh
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Imaginary friends and rats in toilets ... hmmm must be a slow news day.
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They frequently come up in City Hall
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If you let your imigination wander a bit, this has the makings of a horror movie, lol.
The little rat who could
Revenge of the lab rats
Rats take back midtown
Another teenage rat movie
ha!
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#14 Wilma W. (Wilmawilcat)
All kidding aside... I agree with you! I really feel sorry for anyone who lives in the Blenman-Elm area. It will be VERY difficult for them to sell their home until this mystery is resolved - regardless if the incident has been happening for 10 months or 10 years.
Their only solution until then may be to rent out. Bummer!
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i think the rats came from with in. someone want to sell your NICE BLENMAN-ELMHOUSE cheap? CALL ANDREWS.
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Are you guys buying this? I don't believe this for a minute. A lot of people claimed to be abducted by aliens (from outer space, not the ones stealing jobs and social services), the newspaper doesn't cover those b.s. stories. Why cover this?
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"Although the rats are unwelcome houseguests, Andrews said they do provide an incentive for men to brush up on their bathroom etiquette.
"The immediate advice seems to be keep the lid closed (your wife will be happy)," she wrote."
My wife always insisted that the seat be down but the lid be left up.
Something about a woman's genetic predisposition to making a blind flying butt leap for the toilet from out in the hall...
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We came back from a trip last year to find a new toilet seat in the bathrooms. I guess all the females in the family got tired of getting up in the middle of the night. Just to end up with a wet butt. Anyway they put them selfs down. Don't ask me how it works, but it does it slowly. What gets me is the childrens seat for them. One has a duck in the front. I guess for the boys not to hit you when they go.
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Keeping the toilet seat down with an anvil on it will NOT keep the rodent from getting out of the toilet. Rodents can squeeze through some incredibly small spaces. If they can flatten their head through a gap, the rest of their body follows with the "greatest of ease".
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It looks like some of the Red Star editors have left their desks and are now living where they really belong!
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Leave bleach in your toilet after every flush. You may have a floating dead rat in your toilet, but hey, better than feeling its paws gripping your cheeks!
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This was obviously perpetrated by greedy real estate agents wanting to gobble up Blenman-Elm on the cheap. The real estate industry has an inexhaustible (and growing) supply of "white" rats.
Report this comment
It's not your cheeks a guy worries about sitting on a toilet. If you ever had an outhouse the first thing you do is stick something down the hole to rattle around. Black Widow Spiders love the place in there.
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Now I will have nightmares of a big white rat named G W Bush crawling up my toilet
and a little Dick Chainey trying to shoot
him. And would have to call a plumber that
works for a company called The Secret Service.
Report this comment
This has been a very amusing read, truly!
When I once lived in Jamaica WI, it was crabs that somehow managed to crawl up into the toilet bowl.
When I learned that crabs love to feast on human feces, that was the last time I ever dined on them.
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Another illegal entrant, no doubt!
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#14 Wilma--The story I read says this is the second incident in 10 months, and it's been happening at irregular intervals over the past 10 years. What's to correct?
#19 WW--Easily the funniest in a growing list of funny responses. If I could give you two TU's I would.
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If you don't like rats don't go near New Jersey. Being at Fort Dix, and sitting in the Mess Hall you could watch them walking the phone and power lines. They could walk right up a wall as well, and if you left any kind of food or candy out it was gone. Want to see if you have rats anywhere in your house. Get a UV light. Rats have no blatter control, and pee on everything and every place they go. It shows up under that light.
Report this comment
Reading these previous comments, it is obvious that we have a serious problem, and the suggestions offered have not addressed the root cause of the problem. The rats coming into your house are simply a result of a more complex set of circumstances. Some have suggested blasting these "entrants" with the old 12 gauge. Barbara LaWall may want to talk to you about that. These rats have rights. Flushing the toilet may be an effective method of deporting the rat back from whence it came, but it will just try again. Are you willing to stand guard by your toilet 24/7? The poison suggestion is simply inhumane, PETA would object and send in a bunch of lawyers. What would you do if you were in the same predicament? Imagine being in a sewer, with little hope of improving your living conditions. Wouldn't you risk your life on a difficult journey to invade someone else's home for a better future? What we need is comprehensive sewer reform. Maybe if we would allocate enough tax dollars improving the sewer, the rats won't feel the need to invade your house. As human beings, I implore you to show a little more compassion for those less fortunate than you.
Report this comment
I contacted the city a year ago when my cat killed two large sewer rats, two months apart, shortly after we had the waste lines replaced. These were no cute fury white lab rats that fit up toilet pipes, but big gray animals. It made for a colorful conversation about rat physiology with my 8 year old son and saved me one-weeks worth of cat food.
Report this comment
The last post was by far the funniest, but unfortunatly probably the truest at the same time. And I can just see someone on the city council calling for the sewer reform study group.
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I caught between amused and nauseous. Not a good way to start my Sunday morning.
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We never had these problems when Ev Mecham was governor.
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A check valve or flap valve in your sewer line should keep critters out, but if these are U of A grad rats that would explain how they could figure out a way to bypass these valves.
Report this comment
I think flushing a little C4 down the pipe, delayed fuse.. BLAM! That's one reason to have a good Cherry bomb as well., lite the fuse, flush and run like hell, clears any clog.
Report this comment
Our water bills will now include;
1. Water uasage
2. Sewer Fee
3. Trash pickup
4. Rodent control
What's next?
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"29. Comment by James G.
This was obviously perpetrated by greedy real estate agents wanting to gobble up Blenman-Elm on the cheap. The real estate industry has an inexhaustible (and growing) supply of "white" rats."
-------
Gawd, that was hilarious! :D
#34 Robert M: Yes, you are right, and I was too quick on the draw. I'm dyslexic and I did miss that. (I put the text stories into sound files and listen on my iPod later.)
Essentially, I was concerned for the neighborhood, as #21 D.B. well put it:
"It will be VERY difficult for them to sell their home until this mystery is resolved - regardless if the incident has been happening for 10 months or 10 years..."
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"I am so freakin' tired of all these freakin' rats in my freakin' toilet!!!"
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ratapoullie
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I just returned from a trip to Tucson. I have a compelling reason to want to be there, and it gets harder to leave every time. Most days I skip my StarNet newsletter email because I'm so busy right now, but for some reason, today I took a look at it and had the privilege of reading this story and these hilarious comments. Thank you, everyone. You've made what started out as a grim day a lot brighter!
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best fun I've had today!
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...and its now time to form study group to look at this problem. Something akin to the study groups on Rio Nuevo. Oghta have an answer in about ten years.
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You know I should have thought of this first. Just trap them, and sell them for snake food to the pet stores. If you could get enough I bet you could use it to make your house payments.
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#40 Now that is really funny!
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A big ratastrophe.
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Tucson town council is finly showing them selves.
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RE- Rats in the toilets: Welcome to Portillo's beautiful barrio.
Yer pal, Ferrari Bubba
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I live in Blennman Elm. Despite this news, I am confident that the most disgusting stuff in my toilet is what I put there, not anything coming up of its own volition.
A rat would be a nice surprise compared to the last time I forgot to flush.
I do regret the blow this article deals to homeowners in the area. My landlady is crushed.
Report this comment
If I'm not mistaken, New York City has taken the lead on dealing with lab rats in the sewers. Their alligators seem to work quite well.
But I have to agree with some of the other suggestions to look at this with thoughts of Hollywood in mind. Lab rats - left over from unknown or unadmitted secret medical experiments carried out in local hospital or university - forced to survive in the sewer system of a major southwestern city. Has all the makings of a great Grade B movie. "The Toilet Rats of Blennman Elm". Residents of that neighborhood could capitalize on it - maps to and tours of the invaded homes - souvenir toilets (with fuzzy white rats in them) - T-shirts with the logo "I flushed mine in Blennman Elm". Lots of opportunities for creative minds.
Report this comment
Jim W #36 writes in his very funny analysis:
A couple of days ago I mistakenly tuned to the John C. Scott show while driving and heard him interviewing LeWall.
I could not give them much attention at the time but I was pleased to hear her respond to some questions about recent events, one that I must paraphrase, "Does a homowner have a right to kill an intruder inside his house?"
Her answer as I recall was something short like, "Absolutely", or "You bet."
So killing rats in the toilet should not get you in trouble with the law.
Report this comment
#50 & #55
Thanks for the laughs
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#57 Depends on the size and weither it is a 4 legged or 2 legged rat. And what gang colors/signs/tats it has.
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Illegal Aliens are just sewer rats from Mexico, we don't want them either, but they have been popping up in South Tucson for years!
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In my toilet there is problem
And that problem is the Rat
They swim in my toilet
And they never go back
Chorus
Throw the rat down the well (repeat line)
So my toilet can be free (repeat line)
You must grab him by his tail (repeat line)
Then we have a big party (repeat line)
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