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Rats are nasty. Chicagoist wouldn’t want our cat to tangle with one. We’ve all seen those scary “Target: Rats!” posters up in nearly all of the alleys in Chicago. We’re not really sure what the city does when they target rats, but we don’t really want to know.
The town of Cicero will spend $8.43 per person this year on rat eradication in comparison to Chicago’s $3.32 a person, and part of their plan this year is to get children on board. They’re handing out coloring books to kids in an effort to educate them about how bad rats are and what the children can do to join in the campaign to kick the rat scene.
The book is called “Oh Rats,” and the cartoons were sketched and donated by Kathy Garza, wife of a Cicero police officer. According to the Trib article, “One page depicts the rodents scampering in a sack of garbage. Another shows a gargantuan rat flat on its back, tongue stuck out, after snacking on poison. A third panel has a dapper rat eager to dine on dog feces.” Yes, it's always good to dress up when you're going to dig in on some feces. Maybe that's where the phrase "shit-eating grin" comes from.
On Wednesday, rat patrol employee Cynthia Salvino handed out the glossy books to a class of 4th-graders at Roosevelt Elementary School after lunch. The books also will be distributed to other schools in District 99, park districts, social service providers, health fairs and non-profit groups in town. Cicero town spokesman Dan Proft says the coloring books are supposed to be “a fun, entertaining way to provide a civics lesson.” Sure. Kids, scat, rats. It can’t get much better than that. But Salvino asked the tough question -- "The poop is really the main thing," said Salvino outside the school. "But how do you have them color that?"
"Dog Waste = Rats" crispyteriyaki
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"Oh Rats!", he he I love it! I want one of those coloring books!
How much do you want to bet these coloring books are a mob money laundering scheme
i believe it's costing them $15K and it's coming out of their printing budget?
My old apartment in the East Ukrainian Village had an awesome back yard I planted a garden in, but then also had a rat problem. I called the City. One day a guy from the City came by and was like in the yard going "HELLO! IS ANYONE HOME?!"
So I go outside and talk to this guy, and he showed me what they do.
They put down bait--little pellets of poisonous stuff rats will eat, in obvious rat holes in yards, along walkways, under garage foundations... handfulls of the stuff.
But he explains that the problem is that so long as there is real food to eat, they won't eat the poison. Apparently, rats are some kind of culinary critics.
So, key is trying to make sure garbage cans stay closed and bags are sealed (although rats will chew right through the bags if they can get in the can for food).
On the gruesome side, he suggested tying a road flare to a stick, lighting it, and inserting it as far as possible into one of the holes. Then, when the rats run out of the other holes, you can whack them with a shovel.
The look on my face when this City rat control guy told me this had to have been priceless. I am still a little dumbfounded by this, two years later. lol
They should send copies of those coloring books to residents of upscale Chicago neighborhoods to let certain dog owners know that they are basically leaving a banquet for rats when they don't clean up after their pooches. Since the concept of social responsibility is beyond their grasp, perhaps the idea of a big fat rat running around their granite counter tops might convince them to act like grownups and clean up after Fifi.