Takes a good bite as girl tries to throw something in the trash at Clement Morgan Park.

At first, Marcy thought the thing on the inbound side of the Red Line at South Station was a gray mitten. Then she realized it was a dead rat. Today, she reports on RatWatch, Day 11.

Quasify offers up the downside of the warm weather, at least in Allston: the thawing out of the long dead street rodents, frozen since early November:

... This week they're making rapid progress along their inexorable path from three dimensions to two. ...

Audubon writes the rats are out of control:

... Last night, walking from my car to the house, a big fat rat ran out from under a car, dashed across the sidewalk in front of me, slammed into the wall of the liquor store, ran back across the sidewalk and hid under the car until I passed. This whole situation took about 25 seconds, which is a lot of time to stand around if you're holding a laundry bag, some groceries and other things. ...

Oh, look: Now tourists are taking pictures of our rats.

Speaking of rats, you know what eats them? Cats and coyotes! And it seems we have tons of both these days, although urban-coyote researchers say the canines sometimes eat the felines:

... "We've found all kinds of stuff in their scat - cats, seals [on Cape Cod], fruit, food wrappers, you name it." Strauss suggests coyotes' most important competitors in urban areas may be feral cats and that these predators coexist by foraging at different times of day. ...

Ed. squeamish note: A few days ago, somebody posted a photo of a dead rat in Somerville with a 2x4 through it. Sorry, I just can't bring myself to link to that. Blecch!

Apparently hoping to strum up some business in the Hub, d-Con's sponsored a report claiming Boston is third among American cities for "potential rodent problems."

Potential? I guess the authors' "rodent risk assessment" didn't take into account the actual rats that already infest Back Bay alleys.

Via John Keith, who also wonders, basically, WTF.

To eat the rats a Hartlawn Road resident has been feeding since 2005:

... Meaney also added that the rats in Hanron's home have added tension to the neighborhood, and that Hanron expressed feeling stigmatized and ostracized.

Earlier:
Coyotes strike fear in West Roxbury.

This just in: The Longwood Chinese-food truck has been shut down. Inside Edition is racing to the scene!

I hadn't planned on watching "Inside Edition" last night, but darn, I hadn't gotten any Anna Nicole Smith updates recently, so in between the exclusive interview with her mother (she doesn't have any money, so of course she's not trying to gain custody of the baby to get any of her money) and "Chronicle," I got to see Boston's shame exposed to the entire world.

I just loved the China Pearl guy who blamed all the rats on the Big Dig. The Big Dig: Is there nothing it can't do?

Loved the way the Rat Patrol mentioned Tree-mont Street (in part because it got the kidlet's Boston up: "It's TREH-mont! Don't those people know ANYTHING?!?")

And I especially loved that one cute little rat that popped up from the grate to grab the piece of bread one of the Inside Editioners had obviously put there for just that purpose. So, so cute the way he peeked up, grabbed the bread then popped back down again (the producers must've loved him, too, because they showed that same shot at least twice).

Um, but McCormick and Shmick? Let me know when you buy some mops. Until then, it's Legal for me.

Mark your calendars. The City of Boston is again organizing the city-wide clean-up day, Boston Shines.

www.cityofboston.gov/neighborhoods/bostonshines.asp

Visit the site for more info or to sign up.

As a captain for Beacon Hill, I can say this is a pretty neat event. Encourage your neighbors to come out and sweep!

On Internet128, Mats files this dispatch from the rat wars:

... The rats are easily spotted just about anywhere you walk and a few nights ago I was even treated to the spectacle of a fight (or possibly a mating ritual, for all I know) between two rats in our backyard. They went at it pretty good for several seconds, jumping at each other with about a foot of elevation from the ground, before taking it behind the fence, so to speak (literally, actually). ...