Rats in Paris: an historic hatred of Parisians | EUROtoday
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Dn cities, man, grasp of the place, has lengthy relegated animals outdoors the partitions. Only a selected few, tamed and enslaved, tolerated in a cage or on the finish of a leash, discover favor in his eyes. However, regardless of this dedication to determine itself because the undisputed sovereign, sure beings proceed to disturb its tranquility: the “liminal animals”. Neither wild nor domesticated, they share our each day lives, invisible however omnipresent. Among them, the pigeon, the squirrel and essentially the most feared of all, our devious antagonist: the rat.
For centuries, this little rodent has aroused worry and disgust, to the purpose of changing into an obsession for the Parisian authorities and the inhabitants themselves. But why this visceral aversion to rats? How did we arrive at this conflictual cohabitation?
Difficult cohabitation with the rat… or somewhat the brown mouse
“The presence of rats in Paris is not new,” understates Olivier Thomas, deputy editor-in-chief at History and co-author of the collective work Animals in historical past (Tallandier editions). Indeed, the primary mentions of rats date again to Antiquity. The black rat (Rattus rattus), native to Asia, appeared in Europe within the IVe century BC. This small rodent has lengthy dominated city house, however, from the 18th centurye century, it was supplanted by a way more formidable species: the Norway rat or brown rat (Rattus norvegicus).
“The brown mouse, larger and an excellent swimmer, was found in the urban transformations of Paris in the 19the century ideal conditions, particularly in sewers. The black rat, less well adapted to these changes, has gradually abandoned Paris,” explains Olivier Thomas.
Today, estimates counsel a inhabitants of greater than three and even 4 million rats. Paris can be invaded by these omnivorous rodents. According to some research, there are round two rats per inhabitant, a statistic that fuels fears and fantasies. “Parisians are obsessed with numbers. Are there more of them than us? It is this question that arouses “fear”,” says Olivier Thomas. This obsession is discovered within the newspapers of the nineteenthe century, the place staggering figures had been commonly introduced, going as far as to say that there have been 20 million rats in Paris through the siege of 1870.
In reality, exact estimates are nearly not possible to provide. Some are even very questionable. In 1870, when the newspapers introduced that there can be 20 million rats, it was no coincidence, explains Olivier Thomas: “This figure is not cited at any time. It was during the siege of Paris, when the Parisians were besieged by the Prussians. The Parisians eat everything they find: sparrows, crows, animals from the Jardin des Plantes and rats. To say that there are 20 million rats is to tell Parisians that they can hold on because they have something to eat. A week later, it was even announced that there were 25 million! »
Attempts to eradicate Paris
But why this animosity? For Olivier Thomas, several factors explain this hatred. In the West, the rat is associated with dirt, disease and disorder. “It is credited with the spread of diseases such as plague and leptospirosis. The rat gnaws, soils and seems to invade spaces that are not its own. It symbolizes everything we want to keep away from our urban lives: filth, excrement and intrusion into our homes,” he analyzes. This adverse view is bolstered by fashionable literature and legends. From Victor Hugo to Bram Stoker, writers have depicted rats as horrifying and invasive creatures, lurking within the shadows of cities.
Over the centuries, authorities have made numerous efforts to eradicate rats from Paris. From the nineteenth centurye century, rat hunts had been organized within the sewers, typically with fairly barbaric strategies, comparable to electrocution or using poisonous gases. “The rat hunters were even rewarded with bounties for each rat tail brought back,” says Olivier Thomas. These hunts had been spectacular and will trigger lots of of 1000’s of rodent victims.
ALSO READ Laurent Gerra: “The Olympics are over, all the rats have returned” Rodent management strategies have developed over time, however they continue to be ineffective in eradicating the rat inhabitants. Anticoagulants used because the Nineteen Fifties have turn into the norm, however Olivier Thomas recollects: “Destroying all the rats is impossible, and it would not be desirable. This would involve environmentally catastrophic biocidal methods. Additionally, rats play an ecological role by consuming waste and contributing to the regulation of underground ecosystems. »
An irrational hatred for the rat?
Hatred towards rats sometimes seems disproportionate. “There is a fascinating paradox: although the rat almost never attacks humans, it inspires a deep aversion. Seeing it in broad daylight, when it is supposed to remain in the sewers, creates a feeling of abnormality for city dwellers,” underlines Olivier Thomas. In reality, because the nineteenth centurye century, giant Western cities sought to exclude animals from city house, contemplating that town needs to be a spot of order, reserved for people. The rat, by breaking this boundary, disturbs this fragile stability.
This hatred can also be based mostly on confusion between the black rat, chargeable for the plague, and the brown mouse, which is in actuality a lot much less harmful. At the tip of the nineteenth centurye century, the invention of the plague bacillus by Alexandre Yersin and the position of the flea in its transmission by Paul-Louis Simond bolstered this irrational worry. But, as Olivier Thomas factors out, the brown mouse is way much less prone to carry the plague than its black cousin.
Towards reasoned human-rat cohabitation
To Discover
Kangaroo of the day
Answer
Today, the overall destruction of rats is neither potential nor fascinating. “Rather than trying to eradicate rats, we must regulate their population by ensuring that we do not offer them easy sources of food,” explains Olivier Thomas. The City of Paris has carried out a plan to fight the proliferation of rats, specifically by putting in compact trash cans and elevating consciousness amongst residents about waste administration.
The problem is to just accept that rats are a part of the city ecosystem. They are commensal animals, residing close to people for hundreds of years. It is not a query of destroying them, however of limiting their proliferation by controlling their entry to meals and shelter. In any case, concludes Olivier Thomas, “their eradication is a battle lost in advance”.
https://www.lepoint.fr/eureka/rats-dans-paris-une-haine-des-parisiens-ancienne-06-11-2024-2574592_4706.php