3 ms·

Rats Snatching Bats Out of the Air and Eating Them–Researchers Got It on Video

72 points by bookofjoe 11mo ago

ardit33 11mo ago
Oh, dang.... the great 2030 pandemic is coming... I don't think this bodes well for the future. Both rats and bats have been huge vectors of diseases. This is going to produce some kind of super virus that will be another middle age plague like pandemic.
- echelon 11mo ago
  This probably isn't new behavior, simply something we're witnessing for the very first time. We haven't observed orcas predate moose or primates, but the former has plenty of supporting evidence and the latter has probably happened at some point. In any case, zoonotic reservoirs likely slosh around a lot more than we think before spillover events.
  - jacquesm 11mo ago
    2/3rds of all human pathogens originated from zoonotic spillover! https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8182890/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8182890/
    - nephihaha 11mo ago
      We also pass on diseases to animals so it is a never-ending cycle.
  - nephihaha 11mo ago
    I agree. This has probably been happening for millions of years. Bats often live in dense colonies in caves and tree trunks with small exits making rat predation possible. Some native Arctic peoples have traditions of killer whales eating people, although officially they have only killed people while in captivity. A person in a skin kayak would be easy prey for one.
- thewtf 11mo ago
  [dead]
molteanu 11mo ago
Previous discussion, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45730366 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45730366
Culonavirus 11mo ago
> 13 confirmed kills We got SOF rats before GTA6.
- zombot 11mo ago
  SOF?
  - matheusmoreira 11mo ago
    Special Operations Forces.
zwnow 11mo ago
Didn't think I'd ever read about a neighboring city of mine on HN. We're also the state that piloted using open source software for public offices in case that's interesting to someone. Yes, Germany goes further up north after Hamburg.
throwaway2046 11mo ago
https://archive.ph/9NvGV https://archive.ph/9NvGV
hamonrye 11mo ago
[dead]
Qem 11mo ago
Now I wonder if Ratman would be a fourmidable enemy to Batman.
squeefers 11mo ago
[dead]

72 points by bookofjoe 11mo ago

Oh, dang.... the great 2030 pandemic is coming... I don't think this bodes well for the future. Both rats and bats have been huge vectors of diseases. This is going to produce some kind of super virus that will be another middle age plague like pandemic.

echelon 11mo ago
This probably isn't new behavior, simply something we're witnessing for the very first time. We haven't observed orcas predate moose or primates, but the former has plenty of supporting evidence and the latter has probably happened at some point. In any case, zoonotic reservoirs likely slosh around a lot more than we think before spillover events.
- jacquesm 11mo ago
  2/3rds of all human pathogens originated from zoonotic spillover! https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8182890/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8182890/
  - nephihaha 11mo ago
    We also pass on diseases to animals so it is a never-ending cycle.
- nephihaha 11mo ago
  I agree. This has probably been happening for millions of years. Bats often live in dense colonies in caves and tree trunks with small exits making rat predation possible. Some native Arctic peoples have traditions of killer whales eating people, although officially they have only killed people while in captivity. A person in a skin kayak would be easy prey for one.
thewtf 11mo ago
[dead]

molteanu 11mo ago

Previous discussion, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45730366 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45730366

Culonavirus 11mo ago

> 13 confirmed kills We got SOF rats before GTA6.

zombot 11mo ago
SOF?
- matheusmoreira 11mo ago
  Special Operations Forces.

zwnow 11mo ago

Didn't think I'd ever read about a neighboring city of mine on HN. We're also the state that piloted using open source software for public offices in case that's interesting to someone. Yes, Germany goes further up north after Hamburg.

throwaway2046 11mo ago

https://archive.ph/9NvGV https://archive.ph/9NvGV

hamonrye 11mo ago

[dead]

Qem 11mo ago

Now I wonder if Ratman would be a fourmidable enemy to Batman.

squeefers 11mo ago

[dead]