4 ms·
It's because rats, like humans, are omnivores. Many predators live in balance with the population of their preys. When the predators are too successful, the pr
by misja111 11y ago
It's because rats, like humans, are omnivores.
Many predators live in balance with the population of their preys. When the predators are too successful, the prey population will diminish, which causes the predator population to shrink, which is good for the preys, etc.
But omnivores like rats can wipe out an entire prey population and then just switch to some other source of food.
- PhasmaFelis 11y agoRats devastate island populations in particular because those populations aren't evolved to deal with them. Relatively remote islands create a sort of pocket ecosystem where new organisms can't easily arrive from outside, so all the resident species evolve to deal with only the local threats and to fit snugly into their niche. But rats are the end product of a ongoing continent-wide evolutionary battle; they're flexible, they're great at dealing with new situations, and the locals aren't.